Overkill
by Aleh
Summary: When a goddess offered to grant him his heart's desire, eight-year-old Uzumaki Naruto wished for friends. He got them... starting with a girl named Takamachi Nanoha. Unfortunately, the gods don't quite understand the meaning of the word "restraint".
1. Of Gods, Devils, and Mysterious Encounte

Warning: This has not been betaed.

* * *

Eight-year-old Uzumaki Naruto stood in the middle of the street, not knowing what to say to the woman who had just made such an outrageous statement. "Anything?" he finally asked.

"Yes," the mysterious woman replied, her violet eyes shining with mirth. "Any wish you desire. All you have to do is to ask and I will ensure that it comes true. You deserve that much, at least."

"Even if I wanted... a friend?"

"Friends?" she inquired. "That is simple enough. For you, who have known naught but lonliness, it is only natural to desire companionship. Very well. Should you ask that of me, I shall help you to find stalwart companions, loyal friends who shall never abandon you."

"That sounds... good," he whispered.

"That is what you desire?"

"Yes."

"Very well, then," the woman finished as she faded into nothingness. "It will be so."

"Wait!" Naruto shouted. "Who are you?"

"Taka-mi-musu-bi-no-kami," a faint whisper carried to his ears.

* * *

Overkill,

A Naruto Fanfiction,

By Aleh

Prologue: Of Gods, Devils, and Mysterious Encounters

* * *

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. I do wish that I did, however.

* * *

A few things became readily apparent to Naruto. None of the people on the street had seemed to notice what had happened... and they had responded with a mix of confusion and disgust when he asked.

Well, those that had actually _responded_ had done so. Most had just ignored him and walked on.

As the day progressed Naruto became increasingly confused about what had happened and eventually convinced himself that it had just been a pleasant daydream. He'd nearly forgotten about it by the time he fell asleep that night.

Almost as soon as he fell asleep, however, Naruto awoke with a start as his bed disappeared from underneath him. Quickly opening his eyes and looking around, he found himself flailing his arms about as he fell towards an unfamiliar street.

Then he saw a brown-haired girl walking right towards where he was about to land. "Watch out!" he yelled, startling the girl who reflexively stopped walking as her gaze snapped to follow the falling boy.

With that he landed, barely missing the wide-eyed brunette as he crashed into the ground.

"Are you okay?" she frantically asked, approaching him.

"Of course," Naruto exclaimed, shaking somewhat as he stood up. "It'll take more than that to take out the future Hokage!"

"Hokage?" the girl asked, her twin ponytails cutely framing her blue eyes. "What's that?"

"Only the strongest, coolest ninja in all of Fire Country!"

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

Naruto blinked.

"Ah!" she suddenly shouted before bowing. "I'm Takamachi Nanoha. Pleased to meet you."

"Umm," Naruto replied, somewhat confused. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Please to..."

Naruto's introduction was cut off by a backpack falling out of the sky and hitting him on the head.

"Ow," Naruto muttered, dazed as he lay on the sidewalk, "that hurt."

"Don't worry," Nanoha frantically reassured him as she waved her hands and ran in a circle, "I'll get you to a clinic right away... just don't die!"

Had Naruto been in any condition to do so, he would have sweatdropped at the sight.

* * *

The next few minutes were a blur to Naruto as Nanoha practically dragged him to a nearby clinic and begged the resident doctor to take a look at him. While the ultimate conclusion -- that Naruto was fine, if a bit dazed -- was a given to him, the concern that the doctor showed him was a new thing, something that he didn't really know what to make of.

"Naruto-kun," the doctor stated, "you should take it easy for a few days. I'll ask Nanoha-chan to take you home, but you really need to be more careful in the future, okay?"

Naruto blinked, not having recognised anything he'd seen since his arrival.

"But sensei," Nanoha protested, "I don't know where he lives!"

"That's okay," the doctor reassured her. "I have his address."

Naruto blinked again. "How do you know..."

"Ah," Nanoha apologized. "I'm sorry, but we weren't sure about your bag so we looked inside. Sensei found your ID card..."

"ID card?" Naruto parroted.

"Yes," the doctor agreed. "Anyway," she stated, writing an address on a piece of paper and handing it to Nanoha, "do you think that you can find that address? I'll write a note for your school..."

At that point Nanoha got a good look at the paper the doctor had handed her. "Aaaah," she shouted. "That's _my_ house!"

Naruto and the doctor could only blink at that.

* * *

A quick phone-call to Nanoha's home later, the doctor had discovered that there wasn't a mistake... but that Naruto had just moved in with them on short notice and Nanoha's family had intended to introduce the two of them later. Naruto, of course, was totally clueless about the matter -- especially since he didn't understand what a phone was -- but decided that going to her house was the best course of action.

On the way to Nanoha's house her cell-phone rang, startling Naruto. After a brief conversation that left Nanoha quite wide-eyed and Naruto confused over what she was doing, Nanoha stopped walking and turned toward Naruto.

"About the woman who sent you here... what do you know about her?"

"Sent me here?" Naruto asked.

"Yes... she said that she'd talked to you yesterday morning, that you'd told her that you wanted friends..."

Naruto blinked, still somewhat shocked by the day's events. "That wasn't a dream?"

He paused for a moment before reciting what he could remember of the encounter... which wasn't much, periodically being interrupted by Nanoha's exclamations.

"Eh? And she didn't even introduce herself?" Nanoha asked as Naruto finished.

Naruto shook his head before pausing. "Wait... as she left, she called herself... what was it... ah. 'Taka-mi-something-no-kami.' But..."

Nanoha paled. "Kami?"

"Yeah, but there's no way she really was..."

"No," Nanoha disagreed. "She appeared to me, too. I don't really understand what she said, but... she sent you here to make friends, right?"

Naruto dumbly nodded.

"What about your friends where you came from? Won't you miss them?"

"What friends?"

"Whaaaat?!" Nanoha yelled.

Naruto watched dumbly as his new acquaintance, in his opinion, overreacted to his statement. After a few moments, however, she forced herself to calm down.

"Well," she stated, "then I think it would be nice if we were to become friends."

Naruto stared at her with a hopeful look as he remembered the strange woman's earlier words.

"But... we don't know what's going on... how long you'll be staying for..."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, his disappointment easily visable to his new friend.

"We'll just have to make the best of the time we have, then!"

Naruto looked up, his hope once again visible before a hesitant look crossed his face. "But... I don't know how to do that... how to become friends..."

"It's simple," Nanoha explained, smiling. "Becoming friends is really simple. You just have to say my name. That's all you need to do at the beginning. Just look into someone's eyes and say their name." She met Naruto's gaze and continued. "I'm Takamachi Nanoha. Just call me Nanoha."

"Nanoha?" Naruto hesitantly asked.

"Yes, like that."

"Nanoha..."

"Yes," Nanoha stated, grabbing Naruto's hand.

"Thank you, Nanoha-chan...," Naruto said, tears welling up in his eyes as he smiled at his new friend.

"No, Naruto-kun," Nanoha reassured him. "I'm happy to be your friend."

After a few moments of standing there the moment passed and Naruto moved on to other topics as they resumed their walk.

"By the way, Nanoha-chan," he asked, "what was that thing you were talking into earlier?"

Nanoha blinked, pulling out her cell-phone. "You mean this? It's just my cell phone."

"What's a cell phone?"

Nanoha blinked again. "You've never seen a cell-phone before?" She dismissed the comment, knowing that cell phones weren't common in many places and started to explain. As she finished, Nanoha noted that Naruto still seemed confused about something.

"I see..." Naruto replied. "Just one question."

"Yes?"

"What's a telephone?"

Nanoha just stood dumbly for a few moments as Naruto's question registered... before starting another explanation. "A different world indeed," Nanoha thought, remembering what the strange lady who claimed to be a kami had told her.

For the rest of the trip to Nanoha's home she and Naruto traded companionable banter... although it wasn't without surprises for both parties.

"Anyway," Nanoha explained as they approached her house, "Midoriya is our coffee shop at the marketplace in front of the train station. We sell various cakes, cream puffs, and different types of coffee. It's a really popular place for girls coming home from school and ladies around the neighborhood."

Naruto nodded in understanding, having had the concept of a "train station" explained to him earlier.

"So... what kind of cake do you like?"

Naruto paused for a moment. "I don't know," he admitted. "I've never had any."

"Don't tell me that you don't have cake where you're from!"

Naruto shook his head. "No, we have it," he explained. "I've just never had any."

Nanoha paused at her door. "Well, we'll just have to fix that, then!" And with that she opened her door and walked in. "Mother, Father, I'm home!"

It was a small wish. What Naruto wanted was to end his loneliness. What he was waited for was a true friend to regard as precious. He got his wish. With encounters, battles, and vast amounts of power... Konoha's fate was silently set in motion. Even within the storm, Naruto would continue to believe in the bonds that connected his heart to others'... and a tale of truly spectacular overkill would begin.


	2. A Simple Wish, Part One

And Chapter One is ready. Many thanks to MageOhki for helping me flesh out the details.

That said, I still need a decent prereader for this. I'm fairly certain that a number of things slipped through the cracks.

* * *

Millions of people live beneath the expansive sky of a world that its inhabitants call "Earth", and they all harbor a variety of wishes and feelings. Those feelings sometimes touch and collide... but within some of those people are deeper ties that connect them together so that those feelings can be passed along. What's about to start is a story full of those contacts and encounters.

A tale of spectacular overkill begins now.

* * *

Overkill,

A Naruto Fanfiction,

By Aleh

Chapter One: A Simple Wish, Part One

* * *

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.

* * *

In the twilight hours of the night a young boy stood panting from exhaustion as he faced off against a formless creature. Pulling a red marble from his pocket as his short blond hair was swept back by a sudden wind, he thrust the marble forward. A spell-circle formed in front of the marble as the blue-eyed youth held it forth as a protective talisman against the being, the boy's concentration forcing the circle to narrow and approach his hand.

"Ethereal echo," he chanted as the monster charged him, "become light! Forbidden monster, enter this sealing circle! Jewel seed, seal!"

Blood flew as the creature approached the circle.

In the end, the monster managed to escape and the boy, injured, collapsed to the ground.

"Someone," he whispered, lacking the strength to stand and losing the battle to retain his consciousness, "please hear my voice... lend me your strength... your magical power..."

As the boy passed out his body was enveloped by light, his form fading and being replaced by that of a small brown ferret. Released from his hand, the marble hit the ground with a thud and came to rest next to the boy's body.

* * *

An alarm clock sounded in a somewhat bare room, causing Naruto to snap awake. Realizing where he was, he yawned, stretched, and turned off the alarm. "That was a strange dream," he muttered as he pushed aside his covers and started his day.

As Naruto started his morning routine, he took a few moments to reflect on how his life had changed in just a few short weeks. They felt like longer, even if they'd passed in what felt like an instant. Naruto wasn't normally the sort to engage in philosophy, but it was a paradox that he found interesting enough to occupy his mind as he got dressed.

While Naruto still remembered the few lessons he'd had in the Academy, if vaguely, he wasn't Uzumaki Naruto, student in the Konoha Shinobi Academy, anymore. In Naruto's shock, he hadn't been very surprised to discover that the strange woman who sent him to meet Nanoha had provided him with identification and enrolled him in Nanoha's school. It had, however, been a shock to discover that all of the documentation referred to him by the name of Namikaze instead of Uzumaki.

"Good morning," Naruto called out to his surrogate parents as he entered the kitchen of the house that he was beginning to think of as his home.

"Ah, Naruto-kun," Nanoha's mother replied, "good morning."

"Good morning," Nanoha's father said, lowering his newspaper to smile at Naruto.

"Here," Nanoha's mother told him as he approached where she was cooking, handing him a tray with six cups full of hot tea, "could you take this to the table for me?"

"Sure," Naruto cheerfully agreed, taking the tray.

"Good morning," came another voice as Nanoha came into the room.

As the family again exchanged greetings and Naruto took the tray to the table, Naruto reflected on how grateful he was to have them in his life.

"Both of you managed to get up on your own today," Nanoha's father commented as he folded his newspaper and took a cup of tea from the tray. "That's impressive."

Nanoha's father, Takamachi Shiro, was the owner of the Takamachi's coffee shop, Midoriya, and the central pillar of the their family. Beyond that Shiro had gone out of his way to make Naruto feel welcome among the Takamachi family, going so far as to tell Naruto to address him as an uncle when they first met.

"Breakfast will me ready any minute now," Nanoha's mother cheerfully stated.

Nanoha's mother, Takamachi Momoko, was the person in charge of the sweets at Midoriya... and apparently Hell-bent on ensuring that Naruto tried all of them. Beyond that, however, she was the person who'd taken the time, day after day, to teach Naruto the things that most people took for granted... like etiquette. She'd spent several days' worth of lessons instructing him on that, calmly, gently, and patiently teaching him things like why you weren't supposed to leave your chopsticks standing in a bowl of rice.

On the other hand, she'd taken issue with Naruto addressing her as an aunt. Saying that it made her feel old, she'd told him to call her "mom." Naruto had been taken aback by that, but had quickly adjusted. She was both beautiful and kind... and a person that Naruto was quickly coming to view as his true mother instead of as a surrogate.

"About Oniichan and Oneechan," Nanoha asked.

"Ah," Shiro replied, "aren't they still in the dojo?"

Nanoha grabbed a towel on her way to get them, knowing that her sister would probably be sweaty after her morning practice.

Nanoha's older brother, Takamachi Kyouya, was a freshman in college. Having succeeded Shiro as the master of the Mikami Fuwa Ryuu, the family's kenjutsu style, he'd taken over his sister's training. While Naruto hadn't learned much of the Academy's taijutsu style, Kyouya had taken his form as something near a personal insult... and responded by helping Naruto to improve and refine it. Between Kyouya's busy schedule and Naruto's they hadn't been able to get much training in... but Naruto felt that Kyouya was a far better teacher than any of the people he'd learned from in the Academy.

Nanoha's older sister, Takamachi Miyuki, was a second-year high school student. While her schedule kept her far busier than Kyouya, Miyuki had taken the time to help Naruto catch up on his academics. While history was, perhaps understandably, by far his worst subject, Naruto was behind his classmates in a variety of areas. Miyuki, however, was a patient teacher, taking the time to answer Naruto's questions and help him truly understand the material. Between attending both school and juku with Nanoha, Miyuki's lessons, and a great deal of old-fashioned hard work, Naruto was rapidly catching up with the rest of his class.

All in all Naruto felt that the Takamachis were a truly wonderful family to be part of... even if the way Shiro and Momoko still acted like newlyweds sometimes made Naruto's teeth ache.

Most importantly, though, there was Nanoha. Naruto hadn't even known her for a full month, but he already found it difficult to imagine his life without her. More than anyone else, Nanoha had helped him feel at home in the strange world he'd arrived in. She had even confessed to him that she had felt like she had been the odd person out in her family, in part because of the strong bonds between her parents and between her siblings, and that Naruto already felt like the little brother that she'd always wanted.

After breakfast, Naruto and Nanoha boarded the bus to Seishou Auxiliary Elementary School. It had been a surprise to Nanoha when Naruto was enrolled in the same class as her but after the way he'd entered her life it was far less of one than it could have been. As they got on, a purple-haired girl in the back seat called out to the two of them. "Nanoha-chan, Naruto-kun!"

"Ah, Nanoha, Naruto-kun, over here!" the blonde girl sitting next to her greeted, waving.

"Suzuka-chan, Alisa-chan," Nanoha cheerfully acknowledged.

"Good morning," Naruto greeted.

After the obligatory "good mornings" were exchanged Suzuka and Alisa moved to let Nanoha and Naruto sit between them and spent the ride to school engaged in pleasant chatter.

Nanoha's friends, Alisa Bannings and Tsukimura Suzuka, had also made an effort to make Naruto feel welcome. While Naruto still felt somewhat like the odd person out, he had to admit that the feeling was largely because he was the only boy in a group that was otherwise composed entirely of girls. The fact that Alisa, Suzuka, and Nanoha had been friends since the first grade hadn't prevented them from accepting a newcomer into their group. It was, in Naruto's opinion, great to have friends like them, especially since they were not only in the same class at school but also attended juku with him. Spending more time with his friends was always a good thing to Naruto.

It had surprised him that Nanoha had already told Alisa and Suzuka about him when they first met, given that neither of them lived very close to Nanoha's house, but Nanoha's explanation of her cell phone helped to make his surprise brief. Exactly how protective his new friends had quickly become of him, however, was something that continued to move him... when it wasn't just plain confusing him. When a boy in their class had started to tease him about spending so much time with girls, for instance, Alisa had promptly dragged him out of the room. Naruto didn't know what they talked about, but when the boy came back in a few minutes later, he profusely apologized. The boy hadn't bothered Naruto after that... and had actually moved to stop other kids from causing trouble for Naruto on several occasions.

In short, life was good for Naruto... although part of him kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Perhaps the contrast with his old life was too great, perhaps it was just that the sort of happiness he felt was completely foreign to him, but Naruto couldn't help wondering if his new life was just a dream.

If it was, he never wanted to wake up.

* * *

As class progressed and Naruto and Nanoha's teacher debriefed their class on a recent assignment, Nanoha couldn't help but think about her newest friend. Naruto might have been appallingly ignorant of many things, but his enthusiasm and sincerity shone through in everything he did. She could understand his ignorance and lack of manners driving off some potential friends, but her mother's lessons were addressing that issue at a rate that Nanoha found decidedly impressive, casting a rather ominous light on Naruto's lack of social skills.

It was hardly the first time an ominous light had been cast on Naruto's experiences before he met Nanoha. While Naruto rarely spoke about his time in Konoha beyond superficial details, he did occasionally say things that were... disturbing, especially since Naruto apparently didn't realize that he'd said anything unusual.

Nanoha's family provided her with even more cues that helped her to reach the conclusion that something had been spectacularly _wrong_ with Naruto's treatment there. She had found her mother trembling in rage on more than one occasion after she'd spent a while teaching Naruto, and Nanoha knew Momoko's reactions well enough to know that the anger wasn't directed at Naruto. In fact, she'd noticed similar reactions from her brother and sister after _their_ lessons.

The real eye-opener, however, had been when Nanoha, concerned for her friend and wanting to know if there was anything she could do, spoke to one of her teachers about her suspicions. Yamakawa-sensei had gotten a strange look on her face for a moment before sighing and placing a hand on Nanoha's shoulder.

"Nanoha-chan," she had explained, "we were told a few things about Naruto-kun when he came here. I wouldn't normally tell you this since we were asked to keep quiet about it, but I think that it would be better if you knew..."

Nanoha had eagerly nodded in response, but while what she had discovered had answered a few of her questions, it mostly served to further arouse her ire. To think that Naruto-kun -- _her friend_ -- had been denied his heritage...

Nanoha might have been from a fairly modern family in many ways, but she was still Japanese. As she defined herself in terms of her relationships with others, her family was an integral part of her. To deny someone their heritage -- their _family_ -- was to rob them of a key part of _who they were_. It was a nearly unspeakable crime, the committing of which would stain a family's honor for generations... assuming that they didn't all kill themselves out of the shame.

As bad as that was, the crime against Naruto's birth family was actually _worse_ by traditional systems of honor. As far as they were concerned, denying someone their heritage was pretty much killing them in the most dishonorable manner imaginable... and if Naruto was the last of his family, doing so was not only equivalent to killing _him_ but equivalent to killing his _clan_.

Nanoha's anger over that, however, was a pale shadow next to the other parts that she'd heard. The thought of Naruto being caught between a faction that wanted to use him as a weapon and a faction that wanted him dead...

Nanoha forced herself away from that train of thought. He would _not_ be going back to that place. She wouldn't allow it.

The matter did, however, answer why Naruto had been sent to her family. While they didn't talk about it much, Nanoha knew that her parents had once been... troubleshooters... for the Japanese government, and Nanoha knew that her brother would probably follow in their footsteps.

But... that still left her wondering how she could help. When she'd spoken to her father about it, he'd promptly told her that she had the most important role to play out of all of them.

Nanoha would revisit that thought as she and her friends headed to their juku. "Teach him the meaning of friendship, huh?"

* * *

As Nanoha and her friends traveled to their juku Nanoha's thoughts were decidedly absent from their conversation. "Something that only I can do," she thought, "... but how?"

"Hey, Nanoha," Suzuka inquired, "you've been pretty spaced out... is something on your mind?"

"Yeah," Nanoha replied, "but it's not something I can really talk about."

Suzuka nodded sympathetically, noticing Nanoha's brief glance at Naruto as they passed an young woman who was walking her dog. "Is there anything that we can do to help?"

After a brief interruption consisting of the young woman's dog barking at Naruto and Alisa shouting back at the dog with English instructions to be quiet, Naruto decided to offer his own input. "Nanoha-chan, whatever it is, if there's anything we can do..."

Alisa nodded emphatically, agreeing with her friends' sentiments. "You can count on us!"

"Everyone," Nanoha fondly whispered before raising her voice to reply properly. "Thank you very much."

Nanoha's proclamation was met by a few moments of embarrassed silence before Alisa suddenly ran ahead of the group. "Ah," she said, pointing to a path through a nearby wooded area, "over here! This is a shortcut to juku."

"Really?" Suzuka asked.

"Although the path's a bit worn-down," Alisa continued.

With that, the group started walking down the path. After a few minutes of walking, however, Naruto tensed and moved in front of his friends.

"What's wrong?" Suzuka asked.

"Naruto-kun?"

As her friends expressed their concern to Naruto, however, Nanoha's eyes widened in realization as she recognized where they were. "This is the place I saw last night in that dream...," she thought as her mind flashed back to the strange boy's fight.

Alisa was even more concerned by Nanoha's reaction. "Nanoha?"

"Ah, it's nothing," she remarked. "Sorry."

"Are you alright?" Suzuka asked.

"Yeah," Nanoha confirmed.

"Then let's go," Alisa stated. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded in agreement, but all three of them noticed that he seemed a bit tense. It was Suzuka who made the connection first, however -- between the way he was glancing into the woods and how he'd positioned himself...

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yes, Suzuka-chan?"

"Are you expecting someone to attack us?"

Naruto suddenly relaxed and scratched the back of his head. "I just had a strange dream last night..."

Nanoha blinked. "You too? With that boy fighting a strange monster?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah... and this place..."

"Is exactly like the place in the dream!"

Naruto and Nanoha both suddenly blinked in unison. "Eeeh?"

Their surprise, however, was interrupted by a sudden voice. "Help," it called out, as if in desperation.

Alisa and Suzuka were startled as both of their friends suddenly looked to each other. "You heard that?" Nanoha asked.

"Yeah."

"Nanoha? Naruto-kun?"

"A voice," Naruto explained, "someone calling for help."

"Cut it out, you two," Alisa warned them. "It's not..."

Alisa's statement was cut off by Naruto and Nanoha running off as the voice sounded again.

"It came from this way," Naruto stated as he ran ahead at a pace that Nanoha was hard pressed to follow... but stopped before he got too far.

"A ferret?" Nanoha asked, looking at the creature that was lying in the center of the road.

"Under his head," Naruto warned.

Nanoha kneeled down to get a closer look as the ferret's ears twitched and it looked up, meeting Nanoha's gaze.

"Just like in the dream," Naruto muttered.

With that, Alisa and Suzuka finally caught up with them.

"What's wrong with you two?" Alisa asked. "Suddenly running off like that..."

"Ah, look!" Suzuka told her.

"An animal? It looks hurt..."

"Yeah," Nanoha confirmed. "What should we do?"

"Take it to a hospital?" Naruto suggested.

"Not a hospital, a vet," Suzuka corrected.

"I meant a hospital," Naruto stated. "Remember the dream, Nanoha-chan?"

Nanoha blinked. "You mean that this animal is really..."

"Yeah."

"Cut it out, you two!" Alisa shouted. "There's no way that..."

"I've seen stranger," Naruto pointed out. "Transformation is a basic technique that's taught in the Academy in Konoha."

"There's no way...," Alisa insisted.

Naruto simply placed his hands into a seal and was promptly surrounded by a blue glow. Alisa was stunned speechless.

"M... maybe," Suzuka asked, "but even so, wouldn't it be suspicious taking an animal to a hospital?"

"Umm," Nanoha interjected, "is there a vet somewhere near here?"

"Ah... I think there's one somewhere around," Alisa hesitantly commented, still stunned by Naruto's display. She'd known that he was stronger and faster than most people, but this... no wonder those... things... had been trying to brainwash him into some kind of super-assassin.

"Wait a second," Suzuka suggested, "I'll call my house and ask."

With that, the ferret lied down in Nanoha's arms and lost consciousness, the red marble it wore around its neck like a pendant pressing into her wrist.

* * *

"Well," the head veterinarian of the clinic Nanoha and company had taken the ferret to reported a while later, "its wound isn't all that deep, but it does look pretty weak. It's probably been on its own for a while."

"Thank you very much," Nanoha stated, bowing. Nanoha's friends bowed a moment later, also thanking the vet.

"Not at all," the vet, a rather young woman with light brown hair, replied, "you're welcome."

"Sensei," Alisa asked, looking at where the light brown ferret was sleeping, its bandages covering its wounds, "this is a ferret, right?"

"It might be a ferret, but it's certainly unique... and also," the doctor explained, pointing to the ferret's neck, "about this item on its collar, it looks like some sort of jewel..."

With that, the ferret awoke and raised its head to meet the doctor's hand.

"Ah," Suzuka observed, "it woke up!"

Glancing around, the ferret's gaze took sight of the people in the room before it eventually settled on Nanoha. Staring at her with a mixture of gratitude and pleading, the ferret tried to convey its feelings to the girl.

"Nanoha," Alisa commented, "you're being stared at."

"Ah, yeah, umm... uh...," Nanoha embarassedly sputtered, not really knowing what to say, before slowly reaching out to the ferret, holding a single finger close to its nose. As she held her finger in place, the ferret gave her finger a couple of sniffs and promptly licked it.

Naruto relaxed considerably at that while Nanoha sighed and smiled brightly, a notable blush adorning her face. Naruto found the scene quite cute.

All moments end, however, and the ferret promptly flopped back into a resting position, curled around the red stone on its collar. As the four friends' expressions changed to ones of concern, the vet decided to speak up.

"It would be best to let it rest, so why don't I watch over it until tomorrow?"

"Yes," the four of them chimed in unison, "please do!"

As the friends were leaving, the vet had some last words. "If you'd like, why don't you come and see how it's doing tomorrow?"

"Okay!" the friends replied.

"Ah," Suzuka remarked in sudden panic as she glanced at her watch, "oh no! It's time for juku!"

"You're right," Alisa observed.

"Well then, Doctor," Nanoha said, "thank you very much! We'll be back tomorrow!"

With that the four friends headed to their juku as the clinic's head veterinarian smiled at them and waved goodbye.

* * *

During juku, Nanoha and her friends passed a note back and forth, trying to work out where the ferret (or ferret changeling, as Naruto called him) could stay. Although Nanoha's family ran a food business, they felt that her family was their best bet as Alisa had dogs and Suzuka had cats. With that in mind, Nanoha and Naruto told the story to their family as they got ready to eat dinner.

"So...," Nanoha finished, "I was wondering if maybe we could take in that ferret..."

"Hmm," Shiro slowly said, crossing his arms, "a ferret changeling, huh?"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed.

"Well, we have seen stranger, haven't we, dear?" Momoko commented, lifting a tray of food and carrying it towards the table.

Shiro nodded and leaned forward. "While we're on the subject, just what is a ferret?"

Everyone at the table suddenly lost a good bit of tension as they became rather nonplussed. Naruto even managed to lose his balance on his chair, nearly falling off of it.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Nanoha asked in concern.

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"It's a bit like a weasel, Dad," Kyouya explained.

"They were really popular as pets a while back," Mayuki added.

Shiro nodded again. "Naruto-kun, you mentioned that they taught a transformation technique at your... last school..., right? Do you think that he might be from Konoha?"

Nanoha started at her father's question, not having thought of that possibility.

Naruto shook his head seriously. "I might not know the technique, but I know that you can't maintain a transformation when you're unconscious. There might be a more advanced version, but whatever he did in that dream looked completely different."

"Ferrets are pretty small, right?" Momoko asked, placing a tray of food on the table as she smoothly interrupted the forming discussion.

Shiro was rather nonplussed at that. "You know what a ferret is?"

"Umm," Nanoha said, holding her hands a bit apart, "it's about this big."

"Taking care of him shouldn't be much of a problem, then," Momoko gently explained as she finished passing out the dishes, "but if he's really a transformed person, we need to know a bit more about him before we let him stay in our home. Kyouya, Miyuki, what do you say?"

"I have to agree," Kyouya stated.

"Same here," Miyuki agreed.

"Well, there you go," Shiro explained.

"Yeah," Nanoha said, somewhat pensive as she reflected on the rather important detail that she'd somehow managed to overlook.

"I don't think he's an enemy," Momoko told her youngest daughter in a kindly voice, "but we can't be too careful, alright?"

"Yes," Nanoha responded, her tone losing its pensive quality.

"Now, then, let's all eat up before the food gets cold."

"Okay!"

* * *

Later that night, Naruto lay in bed, pondering the issue of the ferret changeling they'd found. While the whole transformation thing was suspicious, his techniques didn't seem like ninjutsu so it was unlikely that the boy was from a shinobi village... and other than the transformation he hadn't done anything to make him suspicious...

In fact, he seemed to genuinely need help. Perhaps he was a hengeyoukai or something? Naruto had never heard of a ferret-youkai, but he supposed that it was _possible_.

As he decided to simply wait and see, however, Naruto's ponderings were interrupted by a voice intruding into his thoughts.

"Can you hear me? Can you hear my voice?" it called, causing Naruto to jump to his feet. "Please listen... You, who can hear my voice, please! Please... lend me a little of your strength!"

"That ferret's voice...," Naruto observed.

"Please, come to where I am...," the voice urgently pleaded. "The time... danger... already!"

Hesitating briefly, Naruto threw on some more casual clothes and started running to the clinic. He didn't get very far before he ran into Nanoha, who had also gotten dressed and headed out.

"You heard it, too?" he asked.

"Yeah," Nanoha replied, still running.

Naruto simply matched his pace to hers. Even if he could have made it to the clinic ahead of her, he didn't want to leave her alone on the streets at night.

Nanoha was quite winded by the time that they arrived at the clinic. Naruto wasn't fazed by that, but something kept him on edge.

"Careful," he warned, "something doesn't feel right..."

Nanoha suddenly leaned forward and clutched her ears as a sudden wind blew through the area. "This sound again..."

"Nanoha-chan! Are you alright?" Naruto asked, reaching to support his friend as the area was covered in a strange, reddish light. They stood watching for a moment before a beastly howl sounded.

"Nanoha-chan," Naruto warned, "run!"

Before she could move, however, the ferret they'd rescued earlier ran by them. Nanoha gasped.

"That's..."

Looking back as it heard Nanoha's words, the ferret barely managed to jump into a tree before the formless monster from Nanoha and Naruto's dream struck the space the rodent had just occupied. Unfortunately for the ferret, however, the monster continued its charge after impact, hitting the tree hard enough to break its trunk. As the tree fell, the ferret jumped off of the falling trunk, landing in Nanoha's arms with enough force to knock her over.

"W-what's going on? What is that?" she asked, protectively sheltering the ferret with her arms as the monster that had attacked it struggled to remove itself from underneath the trunk of the tree that it had just knocked over.

"You... came for me," the ferret observed, speaking out loud in the same voice it had used for its earlier calls.

"It spoke!" Nanoha exclaimed.

"Nanoha-chan," Naruto again warned, stepping between his friend and the monster, "RUN!"

Naruto's warning was just in time, as the monster finally managed to throw off the remains of the tree and turned to face them, its violet eyes widening as it took an unmistakably agressive posture.

"Umm," Nanoha said as she ran down the street, cradling the ferret to her chest as Naruto kept pace slightly behind her, "I don't really understand what's going on, but what is that thing? What's going on?"

Naruto felt that he couldn't have phrased it better himself.

"You're of the proper nature," the ferret stated. "Won't you lend me some of your strength?"

"Proper nature?" Naruto asked.

"I've come here from another world in search of something," the ferret continued, "but I might not have the power to handle the weight of doing so alone. That's why... I understand that it'd be a problem for you, but I want those with the proper nature to cooperate with me." The ferret jumped out of Nanoha's arms and, landing on the ground in front of her, turned to face Naruto's friend. "I'll repay you! I promise I will! I want you to use the power that I possess. Use my power... magical power..."

"Magic...?" Nanoha replied as several clouds swirled and assumed the form of the monster that had been attacking them. Nanoha turned to face the monster with a gasp before being suddenly pushed to the side as the monster made a downwards charge, landing in the space she'd just vacated with enough force to embed its face in the pavement.

Nanoha landed against a telephone pole and stared at Naruto, who'd taken a crouching stance and was facing the creature as it lifted itself from the pavement and turned to attack again. As it moved to jump, Naruto leapt at it, punching its amorphous body as hard as he could. While the creature was forced back slightly, it was otherwise unfazed.

"Nanoha-chan," he told his friend as he dodged a swing of one of its flagella-like antennae, "please... run. I'll hold it off, so..."

Nanoha moved back, her eyes widening as she saw her friend's dance inevitably fail. "I have to help him," she muttered. "but how?"

"Take this," the ferret instructed, using its mouth to hold the round red sphere that had been around its neck out to her.

"It's warm," Nanoha observed as she took the gem before shaking her head as Naruto inevitably missed one of his dodges and was sent into a nearby wall with enough force to crack the pavement. "But we don't have time for that!"

"Hold that in your hand, close your eyes, and focus your mind," the strange rodent firmly insisted, "and then repeat what I say."

Nanoha nodded, closing her hand around the marble-like object and followed his instructions as best she could.

"I, who have accepted this mission," they chanted, "upon the ancient contract, command you to release your power. Wind in the sky... stars in the heavens... and a resolute heart within my chest! Magic within this hand, Raising Heart, set up!"

"Stand by, ready," the gem responded in a somewhat mechanical voice as a beam of light pierced the sky, "set up."

"Nanoha-chan," Naruto panted as he forced himself to stand and again face the monster. Clutching his side where the monster had struck, he took a moment to wipe a trail of blood that had dribbled down his lip. Idly noting that the light from the marble that Nanoha had taken to holding towards the sky as she chanted seemed to be repelling the creature, Naruto once again moved to attack.

"What incredible magical power," the ferret muttered to itself, taken aback, before moving to instruct the girl. "Calm down and image -- that which allows you to use magic, the form of your magical staff... and that which will protect your body, a strong armor!"

Determined, Nanoha closed her eyes and went with the first thing that came to mind. She was promptly bathed in light as her clothes vanished and Raising Heart expanded, becoming a sphere slightly larger than Nanoha's hand. An open ring of metal formed around the sphere, the segment that would have fully closed it protruding at an angle as two cyllindrical objects attached to the bottom of the ring. A pink and white staff attached to the area between and slightly below them, completing the rather stylized weapon. As Nanoha reached to grab it, her clothes were replaced piece by piece with an outfit that bore a rather strong resemblance to Nanoha's school uniform, ableit stylized and crossed with a stereotypical magical girl outfit.

"It's a success," the ferret remarked.

Seeing the transformation out of the corner of his eye, Naruto once again pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the pain that the creature had caused him when one of its antennae had sent him crashing into a wall for the second time that night. Naruto coughed up blood, desperately wishing he'd brought a weapon of some sort with him. Feeling a surge of strength within him, Naruto once again moved to attack the creature, hoping to at least distract it from his first and most precious friend.

Naruto's fist clashed with one of the creature's antennae and, for one moment, the two seemed nearly equal in power. Had Nanoha been paying attention to the details of her friend's appearance, she would have noticed that his eyes, normally the color of a brilliant sapphire, had changed to a ruby shade and his pupils had turned to slits as he poured everything he had into one desperate attack.

* * *

A.N.: For those of you wondering, answers will be coming... later in the story. Much later, actually.


	3. A Simple Wish, Part Two

Takamachi Nanoha, who was supposed to be an ordinary third grader, had her entire life changed by a series of sudden encounters. In one, she gained a new friend. In another, she was given a red jewel from which she gained magical powers. Her unexpected encounters had set two things in motion, which were slowly building in intensity: her intertwined feelings and the beginning of a legend. As magic first began to change her ordinary life, everything would change.

A tale of spectacular overkill begins now.

--

Overkill,

A Naruto Fanfiction,

By Aleh

Chapter Two: A Simple Wish, Part Two

--

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. As Nanoha is a spinoff of Triangle Heart 3, it's worth mentioning that I don't own ToraHa, either.

--

Naruto's fist clashed with one of the antennae of a formless creature and, for one moment, the two seemed nearly equal in power. Had Nanoha been paying attention to the details of her friend's appearance, she would have noticed that his eyes, normally the color of a brilliant sapphire, had changed to a ruby shade and his pupils had turned to slits as he poured everything he had into one desperate attack.

Unfortunately for Naruto, however, the monster that he was fighting had two antennae. As one of them defended against his attack the other came around on the attack. Jabbing at him with surprising speed, the antenna pierced through his side. As Naruto's attack suddenly lost its force, the flagellum-like object which had been blocking his punch whipped forward, striking the boy and once again sending him flying into a wall. Standing in mute horror, Nanoha couldn't help but notice the blood that flew from his wound as he was ripped off the monster's appendage. "No!" she shouted, running to her friend's side.

"Nanoha... chan...," Naruto panted, struggling to his knees and using his hands to staunch the flow of blood as his friend approached him, "... please..."

Continuing its assault on the person who'd managed to make a nuisance of itself, the monster followed up on its attack. It was odd, but as the creature jumped into the air and spun Nanoha couldn't help but notice that the whisker-like marks on her friend's face had somehow become considerably more pronounced. Her friend's face showed nothing but sheer determination as he struggled to continue his hopeless fight against the _thing_ that had already managed to forever embed itself in her nightmares despite the injuries he'd already recieved...

... and it was all for her sake.

As the monster started its descent toward her friend, Nanoha knew what she had to do. Running between her friend and the creature that was diving towards him, Nanoha swung her staff it it. She knew that it was probably a futile gesture, that it might not do anything, but she also knew that she would never have forgiven herself if she hadn't tried.

Despite her wishes, Nanoha's gesture was rendered moot as she felt a sudden impact push her to the side. Hitting the ground with considerable force, Nanoha heard a sickening crunch just before the monster landed just past where she'd been standing. As she pushed herself off the pavement and looked back in horrified shock, Nanoha saw that Naruto had managed to push her out of the way at the price of not being able to evade the blow himself. His legs lay behind him in a mangled mess as he stared at Nanoha with the same pleading gaze he'd used earlier.

"Ru... n..."

Nanoha pulled herself up to her feet as the creature tried to remove itself from under the debris. She nearly asked Naruto why he was doing what he was pushing himself so far, why he seemed to have no care for his own safety, when the answer came to her in a moment of sudden realization. Naruto didn't seem to be concerned about himself because he _wasn't_. As long as his sacrifice increased her chances of escaping unharmed by even a single percent, her friend -- her adoptive brother -- believed that his own life was a small price to pay.

Nanoha quickly determined that she'd have to disabuse him of that notion... but first she'd have to deal with the creature that was responsible for their current situation. Stepping between Naruto and the creature, Nanoha took determined stance as she pointed her staff at the creature.

"Lyrical, Magical," she chanted.

"Shooting mode," the red jewel at the center of the staff declared in response to Nanoha's desire, "set up."

In an instant the circle of metal surrounding the red jewel reformed into a vaguely rifle-like structure composed of twin prongs extending from a semi-circular base as the staff's length extended. Three wings of light appeared from the base of the structure as several ribbon-like pink circles surrounded the weapon's length.

"Divine Buster," the magical object stated.

With that, a beam of pink energy lanced from the jewel, smashing through the center of the creature and continuing through the walls of a neighboring building. The creature simply blew up, sending bits of itself flying with enough force to dent concrete. A nearby telephone pole fell over as several shards of the creature struck near its base, barely missing the ferret as it ran towards Nanoha.

"Protection," the lance-like staff continued as a shield of energy formed in front of Nanoha, blocking the shrapnel.

Wiping some sweat off her forehead as she sighed in relief, Nanoha turned toward her friend. Naruto had passed out at some point, lying in a pool of his own blood. Nanoha wasn't an expert in such things, but the steady rise and fall of his chest reassured her. The rate at which the exit wound on his back was still bleeding, however, did not... nor did the way in which the puddle of blood was continuing to grow.

Nanoha's attention was torn from Naruto's mangled form when the ferret that had been looking at the scene in a mix of horror and awe suddenly shouted. "Watch out!"

Spinning around, Nanoha once again held out her staff. A shield of energy once again appeared, blocking the antennae of the creature that Nanoha had just blasted to bits. Staring at the sight, Nanoha noticed that the monster was literally pulling itself together, water-like pseudopods helping it to literally gather itself together as it prepared to attack another time.

"Eeeehhh?" Nanoha shouted. "What should I do?"

"You need to seal it," the ferret told her. "If you attack and seal it correctly, it should change back into a Jewel Seed!"

"Lyrical, Magical," Nanoha chanted. "Jewel Seed, seal!"

"Sealing Mode, set up," Nanoha's staff stated, returning to its previous shape before the head of the staff extended somewhat and three wings of light formed a narrow Y-shape. As Nanoha swung her staff at the nearly-reformed creature, several pink ribbons of light extended from the head of the staff and wrapped around the monster, binding it in place. The Roman numeral "XXI" appeared on the creature's head as the magical weapon again spoke up. "Stand by, ready."

"Lyrical, Magical," Nanoha continued, "Jewel Seed Serial Twenty-One. Seal!"

"Sealing," the red sphere replied. With that, the monster dissolved into a small, diamond-shaped stone.

"Touch it with Raising Heart," the transformed animal that had been giving Nanoha instructions encouraged.

Tired and worried, Nanoha approached the stone and held out her staff. The Jewel Seed rose into the air and flew towards the center of her staff's headpiece. As it made contact with the center, the Jewel Seed disappeared into the red centerpiece with a small ripple of energy. "Reciept Number Twenty-One," Raising Heart confirmed.

And, like that, it was over. Nanoha's clothes were surrounded by a pink glow, vanishing and being replaced with her earlier casual outfit. Raising Heart changed back into a marble and fell into Nanoha's palm. The strange fog vanished, leaving Nanoha standing in the middle of a scene of total devistation. "It's gone?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes," the ferret agreed. "Thanks to you. Thank you..." And with that the ferret passed out, the sounds of approaching sirens serving to highlight the sound of Nanoha crying over her friend's broken form as she tried in vain to staunch his bleeding.

--

On the way to the Uminari University Hospital, Takamachi Kyouya stared out the window of the car as he thought about the events of the past few hours. When his mother had checked on Naruto and found that he wasn't in his room, he hadn't been too worried. When they had gone to ask Nanoha if she knew where he was, only to find her missing as well, they had started looking for them.

It hadn't been either Nanoha or Naruto's fault that they didn't know better -- his parents had done their best to shield the two of them from the harsher realities of the situation. But... Kyouya could only think of one reason why the Imperial family would ask Takamachi-ke to take in the boy instead of another family.

Kyouya didn't doubt for a moment that his family had been told the truth when they were told that Naruto needed people to teach him what it was like to be a member of a true family, to teach him the meaning of friendship, and to help him recover from the rather horrific abuses he'd already suffered in his short life. He knew from experience that Naruto wasn't even aware of most of those abuses, either... the boy hadn't even been aware that his true clan name was Namikaze. Even with the Takamachi family's efforts Naruto still didn't know so much as his father's _name_... and didn't understand just why that was a big deal.

And then there were the signs that Naruto had been _Ignored_... the horrific state of his training...

To think that a member of the Imperial family had been treated worse than most _burakumin_... and all for what? Some sadistic attempt to create a super-weapon? But even _that_ had been sabotaged... and in the worst possible way for Naruto.

For generations Kyouya's family had been among the most skilled bodyguards and assassins in Japan. Until he had retired to run the Midoriya with his wife, Kyouya's father had been no exception. The family's style, the Mikami Fuwa Ryuu, was considered to be one of the deadliest in Japan. It was said that to a person who'd mastered the Mikami Fuwa Ryuu's highest technique, Sen, everything before him dropped to zero... time, distance, and even the user's own fears. While Kyouya was aware that there was more than a bit of poetic license involved with that description, the simple fact of the matter was that his father had once been confronted with a hostage situation in which a rather sadistic serial killer was holding a gun to the head of a family friend. When the killer's finger had started to move, Shiro had reacted, drawn his sword... and sliced the man's hand off before he could pull the trigger. Shiro had been standing nearly fifty meters away at the time.

Kyouya's mother had been nearly as deadly.

There were many loving families that could teach Naruto about such things. Many of them were martial arts families that could deal with the issues that Naruto's training and abilities produced.

None of them could offer Naruto the level of protection that the Takamachis could. Even the waitresses at the Midoriya were dan-level martial artists... and they'd taken to putting aside their constant fights in favor of a not-so-subtle competition over who could more thoroughly mother Naruto during his visits to the shop.

In other words, Naruto being sent to their family meant that Naruto needed protection. Coupled with what Kyouya knew about Naruto's history, this lead him to one inescapable conclusion: the utter, total _bastards_ responsible for what had happened to Naruto before the boy came to live with their family were still out there.

Kyouya understood why his parents didn't want to tell Nanoha everything. That didn't mean that he liked their choice.

When Naruto and Nanoha had turned up missing, Kyouya had felt that something was wrong. He had intellectually known that it was probably nothing... but given what _could_ have happened...

Then came the explosions, the sounds of things falling in the distance... and the frantic phone call from his mother, letting him know that Uminari's police chief had come to their house -- personally! -- to tell them that Naruto and Nanoha had been taken to the hospital...

On the bright side, even if it was a small one, Nanoha was apparently uninjured. The police simply hadn't had the heart to tear her away from Naruto's broken form as she cried about how he'd gotten hurt that badly _trying to protect her_.

When he'd heard that little part, Kyouya had instantly decided to start his little brother's training in the Mikami Fuwa style as soon as Naruto recovered.

And he _would_ recover, even if his family had to call in every single one of the favors they'd accumulated over the years to ensure it.

--

Takamachi Shiro was not in a good mood. When the chaos had started Shiro had run towards the noise. Even with his conditioning he hadn't made it before the end, but what he had seen...

The craters were bad enough. The downed telephone pole, the tree that had been snapped in two, the cracks in the walls... he'd seen worse damage, although the two-story building that had been destroyd was rather spectacular. It was more so considering that Shiro's trained eye couldn't see any signs of explosives... and _could_ tell that the building had been hit with some form of directed force.

No, what had really disturbed Shiro was the blood.

It wasn't that Shiro hadn't seen plenty of blood in his life. But... coming across a scene like that, just in time to see the ambulance speed off...

Even if Shiro hadn't been searching for his daughter and one of her friends -- who happened to be _his charge_ -- it would have been burned into his memory. Since he was doing precisely that, the blood took on an extremely ominous quality.

There were times when the experience Shiro had gained as a professional bodyguard were a curse as well as a blessing. As he took in the scene Shiro couldn't keep his mind from analyzing the sight, trying to reconstruct what had happened. To his trained eye, the site practically screamed of a desperate battle against a far superior opponent, of sheer determination of a sort that he'd only seen a handful of times in the past.

The fact that times he'd seen such a show had almost always ended with either a rescue or the death of the person giving it did absolutely nothing to reassure him.

Shiro was no stranger to losing members of his family. What had happened to the Fuwa clan ensured that. His familiarity, however, only served to further his sense of dread.

When one of the police officers swarming the scene noticed him and ran up to him, greeting him by name, Shiro's mood had quickly gotten a whole lot worse as his fears were confirmed. It got somewhat better with the confirmation that Nanoha was fine, but...

Shiro had done his best to protect his youngest daughter's innocence. He knew that Kyouya's had been forever shattered with Albert Crystela's death, when the so-called Crazy Bomber had tricked one of Kyouya's friends into giving a teddy-bear that had been packed with explosives to Shiro's client. It had been a miracle that Shiro had survived. Given the strength of the blast and how close Shiro had been to it... he shouldn't have.

Shiro had been in the hospital for a long time after that, and he saw how comforting Albert's daughter, Fiasse, had changed Miyuki. He had retired and started working at full-time at the Midoriya shortly afterwards.

Hearing the officer tell him about what they'd found, about how Nanoha had been crying over Naruto's broken form, had brought back a number of unpleasant memories.

Hearing what Nanoha had been saying, however, made Shiro come to a decision.

"Uncle Shiro" wouldn't do. "Dad" sounded much better.

--

Takamachi Momoko walked through the emergency room at Uminari University Hospital with a graceful but determined gait. Tracking her husband by the sound of his heartbeat, she unerringly found his location and made her way towards him.

"Situation?"

Shiro instantly recognized the short form that his wife was using. "Attack. Assailants unknown. Objective unknown. Nanoha unhurt. Naruto..." Shiro trailed off, feeling that their shorthand for situation reports on the field just wasn't appropriate for the next part. "Naruto-kun protected her. Nanoha's refusing to leave his side."

"Injuries?"

"Severe."

"Recovery?"

"Unknown. Waiting for a report."

"Doctor?"

"Ishida-sensei."

Momoko nearly sighed in relief. While Ishida-sensei was best known as the head of the hospital's neurology department, the woman had made a career of treating unusual problems, especially ones that needed to be handled with... discretion.

Which was, admittedly, just a polite way of saying that Ishida-sensei drew a second paycheck from the JSDF. She was also one of the few people in Uminari that had a higher security clearance than Momoko herself did.

Considering that Momoko had once been the head of the JSDF's Ground Staff Office's secretary, that was saying something... although not as much as it could have since Momoko had left that job shortly before she married Shiro.

"Do you think it was Konoha?" Miyuki asked, having caught up with her mother.

Shiro shook his head. "I'd have thought that, but the fight started at a vet's office. Nanoha apparently insisted on bringing a ferret with her, too."

Kyouya decided to ask a question at that. "So you think it's the ferret-changeling's fault?"

"Nanoha was concerned for it." Shiro sighed, seeming far older than he actually was in that moment. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"Where's the ferret now?" Momoko firmly inquired.

"Unconscious. The police told me that Nanoha wouldn't let it go after the paramedics took over treating Naruto-kun. They're letting her keep it for now."

Miyuki's eyes widened. "Isn't that against hospital policy?"

"Yeah," Kyouya confirmed, "but they probably made an exception."

"But..."

Momoko shook her head. She'd phoned a few of her contacts after dinner to ask them about ferret-related black-ops projects. The reactions had been... interesting... but while it was _possible_ that the police and hospital staff had simply wanted to keep Nanoha relatively calm and out of the way, it was far more likely that the questions had made the rounds.

At that point a blue-haired woman walked into the waiting room and approached Momoko. "Ah, Momoko-san! It's been a while!"

What followed was ostensibly a pair of old friends catching up with each other and reminiscing about old times. Anyone who was familiar with the codes used by JSDF intelligence agents would have been able to tell that the actual subject matter was quite different.

As Ishida-sensei catalogued Naruto's injuries one thought raced through Momoko's head. "What have my children gotten themselves cought up in?"

--

Takamachi Miyuki wanted to break something. Whoever or whatever was responsible for her new little brother's injuries would be ideal, but she'd settle for a convenient inanimate object. Really, talking about recipes for _cookies_ at a time like _this_?

Just as she was about to voice her indignation, however, Kyouya pointedly grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. Taking the hint, Miyuki stopped and waited for the rather odd conversation to end. When her mother politely said her goodbyes and led the family through the hospital, stoppping at a rather nondescript door, Miyuki couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

Then her mother opened the door and ushered her family in. Everything suddenly made sense to Miyuki, although she had to wonder where her mother had learned whatever code she'd been using in her conversation.

The room was every bit as nondescript as the door had been, a perfectly ordinary hospital room... if you disregarded two details: first, the fact that Naruto was lying on the bed, heavily bandaged and hooked to a rather staggering array of medical equipment and, second, the fact that Nanoha was sitting next to him, resting her head on his chest. Miyuki frowned as she realized that her sister had literally cried herself to sleep.

"We're clear," Momoko reported to her husband, causing Miyuki to realize that her mother had actually _checked the room for bugs_. Miyuki would have expected her father to be able to do something like that, but her _mother_?

Kyouya chuckled at the expression on his sister's face. "You were never told what Uncle Hiroshi does for a living, were you?"

Miyuki blinked, remembering her mother's somewhat goofy, fun-loving older brother and wondering what he had to do with anything.

"He's the JSDF's chief intelligence officer," Kyouya explained.

Mayuki shook her head as she tried to reconcile two very different mental images of her mother's family. She'd known that her mother had come from an old samurai clan, of course, but...

Miyuki then thought of the only other member of her father's family that she could really remember and a lot of things started to make sense.

In Hong Kong, Mikami Misato sneezed.

"So," Kyouya asked Momoko, "Naruto-kun's injuries?"

"They're... extensive," Momoko admitted. "He suffered pretty extensive bruising across most of his body, four cracked ribs, and two opposing puncture wounds to his abdomen; if either of them had been even a millimeter deeper, they would have punctured his lungs. His legs... there were at least sixteen separate fractures, several of which were compound and most of which were both complete and multi-fragmented."

Kyouya and Miyuki winced. Shiro's frown deepened considerably.

"The interesting part," Momoko continued, "is that they actually had to re-break several of the bones in order to set them properly."

"Naruto's healing is that fast?" Shiro asked.

"Apparently," Momoko replied, "but there was also some sort of corrosive toxin in Naruto-kun's system. Either he was poisoned or his healing ability has a rather strong drawback."

"Corrosive toxin?" Kyouya inquired.

"One strong enough to eat through the sutures that Ishida-sensei tried to use. She took a sample of his blood in for a discreet analysis; we should have the results in a day or two."

Shiro nodded. "A JSDF lab?"

"They have the facilities in the hospital, actually. Ishida-sensei is going to do the work herself."

"Good."

As the conversation continued, Miyuki found herself increasingly confused. She payed close attention anyway. It was _her brother_ that they were talking about, after all.

--

When Naruto regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the absence of pain. From what he could remember of what had happened, he expected to be in quite a bit of it. Then again, he hadn't really expected to wake up in the first place. Wondering if he was in the afterlife, he stirred slightly and opened his eyes.

An object on his chest shook somewhat as his vision was flooded with light. A weight that Naruto hadn't noticed disappeared from his chest as his movement disturbed it. Naruto tried to speak, but only managed to make a croaking sound.

"Mom, Dad!"

"Miyuki-neesan?" Naruto thought, trying to bring his eyes into focus. As his vision cleared, he found his sight filled by his first friend's concerned gaze. "Na... noha... chan?" he hoarsely murmured.

Nanoha's eyes teared up. "Naruto, you _idiot_!" she yelled at him. "_Never_ do that again!" With that, her furor dissipated and she broke down crying as she again rested her head on his chest. "I thought I'd lost you," she explained between sobs. "I thought I'd lost you..."

Not really knowing what to do, Naruto tried to raise a hand to comfort his friend but quickly found that his arm wouldn't respond. "I... didn't... want to... lose you... either...," he managed to whisper.

"Idiot," Nanoha softly answered. "What do you think would have happened if you'd died? Wouldn't that have been losing me every bit as much as if I'd been the one to..." She broke off at that and started crying again before she managed to get one last request out through her sobs. "So... please... please don't do that again..."

Naruto finally managed to lift his arm. Wrapping it around his friend's back, he held her as closely as he could. He didn't know what to say, so he just gave her what comfort he could.

He knew, after all, that he wouldn't hesitate to make the same choice again.

Silently watching the scene, the remaining members of the Takamachi family stood back and watched, knowing that it wasn't their place to interfere.

--

An hour later Nanoha had fallen asleep and Naruto's throat felt considerably better. After hearing the story and asking some rather pointed questions, the Takamichis were satisfied that they knew as much as they could find out before the ferret regained consciousness. Exhausted from the night's events, Nanoha had collapsed shortly after, and Shiro, Miyuki, and Kyouya had excused themselves.

"Naruto-kun," Momoko asked after checking to make sure that Nanoha really was asleep, "do you understand why Nanoha was so upset?"

Naruto blinked, wondering what she meant.

Seeing the confusion on her son's face, Momoko gently shook her head. "Nanoha is important to you, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Naruto quietly agreed, carefully keeping his voice down in order to not wake the girl who was resting her head against his side.

"That's part of being someone's friend," Momoko explained. "Friends are precious, something that you treasure... but, Naruto-kun, that goes both ways. A true friend treasures you just as you treasure them."

The blonde-haired boy could only blink and gaze at his friend. Even sleeping in the awkward posture that she'd taken, sitting in the chair by his bed as she rested her head against him, she seemed to take comfort in the steady rise and fall of his chest.

"Nanoha truly regards you as a friend, Naruto-kun," Momoko continued. "Just as she is important to you, you are important to her. Just as you don't want to see her hurt, she doesn't want to see you like this. Just as you don't want to lose her, she doesn't want to lose you." Momoko smiled. "None of the rest of us want to see you hurt either... so don't be too reckless, okay?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he took that in. "Mom," he whispered, overwhelmed by emotion as he started to understand what Momoko meant.

"That said," Momoko complemented, "I'm very proud of what you did tonight. What you did was truly worthy of the highest ideals of the Takamachi family." Momoko frowned in concern. "I just wish you hadn't gotten so hurt doing it."

"I'm alright," Naruto encouraged her. "You'll see -- I'll be out of here in no time."

Knowing that Naruto had continued fighting despite a _punctured lung_, that what had happened to Naruto's legs was something that most people would _never_ recover from, and that the poison in his system was strong enough to literally eat through surgical sutures, Momoko teared up. "My poor boy... my poor, brave little boy..."

And, like that, Naruto had one more female Takamachi to awkwardly comfort. It didn't last long, but Naruto treasured the moment all the same as he resolved to do his best to ensure that there would never be a repeat.

"Naruto-kun," Momoko asked after she'd straightened up and wiped her tears away, "do you know why our family's sword style is called the Mikami Fuwa even though our name is Takamachi?"

Naruto was rather nonplussed by that, entirely missing what Momoko had _really_ said. "No," he admitted, "I don't."

"The Fuwa were a well-established samurai clan with a history stretching back over eight hundred years," Momoko told him. "For generations, the Fuwa clan produced some of Japan's most skilled bodyguards, sharing a sword style with another warrior clan, the Mikami."

"The Mikami Fuwa style?"

"Yes. It is from those two clans that the Mikami Fuwa style takes its name." Momoko's habitual smile took on a rather sad quality as she continued. "When I first met Shiro, his family name was Fuwa."

Naruto briefly started before forcing himself to calm down, not wanting to disturb Nanoha's peaceful slumber.

"Somewhat over nine years ago, when I was pregnant with Nanoha, there was a large reunion of the Mikami and Fuwa families. We were on our way to attend when I went into labor." Momoko's smile died as she looked at Naruto. "It was the only reason why we survived. A terrorist organization bombed the meeting."

Naruto stared in horror. "Everyone..."

Momoko shook her head. "There was one survivor... after we arrived at the hospital, Shiro called ahead to tell everyone what had happened. Shiro's sister, Misato, decided to join us. She was leaving the building when the bomb went off."

"She was the only one who survived?"

"Yes. After that... Shiro and I went into hiding, changing our name to Takamachi."

Naruto frowned. "Why... didn't you want to go after the people who..."

Momoko sadly smiled. "Of course we wanted to... but we had Kyouya, Miyuki, and Nanoha to think about. Before all else, a Fuwa swordsman protected those that they cared about, those that were precious to them, and that didn't change when we became the Takamachi." Momoko paused, taking a moment to clasp Naruto's free hand. "The stories always tell of people dying to protect those precious to them, but sometimes, to protect the people you care for, you need to _live_. Naruto-kun, please remember that."

Overcome with emotion, Naruto felt tears welling up in his eyes. "Yes," Naruto promised, smiling as he nodded. "I will."

"Good," Momoko told him as her smile returned to normal. "I'm relieved." After pausing for a moment to let Naruto take in what she'd said, Momoko released Naruto's hand. "By the way," she commented, "Kyouya wanted to talk to you about something... but that can wait until the morning. For now, just sleep. The rest will help you recover."

Momoko moved to walk out. As she opened the door and started to step through, however, a small fox ran between her legs. "Oh my," she exclaimed as the fox ran past her and made a beeline for Naruto. "Kuon-chan, what are you doing here?"

--

A.N.: Yes, I'm using ToraHa to fill in the details. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Bwahahaha.

And yes, Mikami Misato has a certain job. If you think _that's_ bad... wait until you see how I flesh out Alisa and Suzuka. :-)


	4. Reactions and Explanations

As usual, this hasn't been betaed. Frankly, I rather need a beta at the moment. That said, this should answer some of your questions, for those of you who have been asking them.

--

Takamachi Nanoha was just supposed to be an ordinary third grader, but a series of events changed everything. What she was given was a red jewel. What she gained were magical powers. The unexpected encounter she was drawn into had been silently set into motion, and she was facing each day as it arrived, handling what came as best she could.

A tale of spectacular overkill begins now.

--

Overkill,

A Naruto Fanfiction,

By Aleh

Chapter Three: Reactions and Explanations

--

Disclaimer: I own none of the series that I've used or referenced within this story.

--

In Takama no Hara Amaterasu Omikami went to look for Taka-mi-musu-bi-no-kami, only to find her staring into a mirror. "Hey, Grandmom," she greeted. "Dad wanted me to tell you that dinner's ready."

"I'll be there in a moment, Ama-chan," Izanagi's mother told her granddaughter. "There is something that I need to take care of."

Amaterasu frowned. "What's that?"

Taka-mi-musu-bi-no-kami simply showed her the mirror and started to explain.

"Oh," Amaterasu responded as her grandmother finished. "Oh my. Would you mind if I helped?"

"Of course not. Just... don't tell my brother quite yet, okay?"

The sun goddess blinked before shuddering at the image that came to mind. "Right. We'll let him find out _after_ we've taken care of the situation -- thoroughly."

"Good. Now to get back to work..."

--

Takamachi Miyuki was stunned. She'd dealt with strange things before, of course; her best friend was Kanzaki Nami, a miko who was constantly accompanied by a fox named Kuon. Considering that Kuon was really a kitsune who had once gone into a rage after the death of her human lover and been cursed to become a powerless, normal fox, that meant something... especially since Nami was constantly trying to cure her... err... friend.

Some of the adventures they'd gotten into over the years were quite interesting -- in the Chinese sense. Miyuki still remembered the time they'd flown to that Jusenkyo place. At least they'd managed to warn those wandering martial artists away, even if the waters hadn't worked on poor Kuon.

What had happened to her little brother, however... Miyuki knew that _something_ had healed him. It was the only way to explain his intact lungs... not to mention the _bones_... and the _poison_. If it wasn't for that...

Naruto would have died. He _should have_ died.

The monster that they'd fought... the mere thought of it gave her the chills. Maybe Kyouya or Shiro could have done better, but Naruto was stronger and faster than many adults _normally_. In the sort of situation that he'd been in, the adrenalin rush would have increased his abilities _further_... and Miyuki's father had told her about the damage he'd seen.

Something like that roaming about the streets was a virtual nightmare, and Miyuki wasn't naïve enough to thing that it was the only one of its kind. She wanted -- needed -- to know more.

Unfortunately, their only source of further information unconscious.

Even lost in her thoughts, however, Miyuki could hardly miss the commotion caused by a fox running through the hospital at full tilt as it made a beeline for Naruto's room. The fact that Nami was chasing after said fox and shouting for it to stop didn't hurt.

"Kuon, please stop! You're not supposed to be... Miyuki-chan? What are you doing here?"

--

As Momoko opened the door to Naruto's room and started to step out, a small fox ran between her legs. "Oh my," she exclaimed as the fox ran past her and made a beeline for Naruto. "Kuon-chan, what are you doing here?"

The cursed kitsune ignored Momoko's shout and jumped on Naruto's bed. Grabbing the top of Naruto's covers with her mouth, Kuon promptly pulled the sheets back, exposing the upper portion of Naruto's chest.

"Eeeh?" the boy shouted, "what the?"

Naruto's yelling promptly woke up Nanoha. She started and looked around, her eyes settling on Kuon's form as the fox continued to pull Naruto's sheets back. "Kuon-chan? What..."

As Kuon finished exposing Naruto's bandaged chest, she let go of the sheets and started sniffing around the edges of his injury. Much to Naruto's confusion, Kuon then started licking an exposed patch of skin.

"Oh my," Nami remarked as she entered the room and saw a red glow forming where Kuon was licking. "That really should be purified right away..."

Naruto blinked. "Umm... who are you? What's going on?"

"You are Naruto-kun, right?" Nami asked, bowing. "I'm Kanzaki Nami, one of Miyuki's friends from school. Please treat me kindly."

Naruto blinked again. As Nami started pulling out ofuda, he decided to ask the question again. "Umm... and the fox?"

"It's really not safe to have that much kitsune youki in a human body... Kuon-chan is trying to draw some of it out."

"Kitsune youki?"

"Yes," Nami explained. "Many types of spirits use a kind of power called 'youki'. Naruto-kun seems to be able to use a kitsune's power, but with his injuries the way they were, the amount of power he's using is more than his body can handle. Whatever gave him that power seems to have realized this and pulled back somewhat, but he has been flooded with so much youki that it's actually poisoning him at the same time that it's helping him heal."

Nanoha smiled. "So Kuon-chan is..."

"Trying to help Naruto-kun," Nami agreed. "There's not much she can do with her powers sealed like they are, but if I help as well..."

Nanoha smiled. "Thank you very much!"

--

Alisa Bannings stared out her window, contemplating the phone call she'd just received. Naruto-kun being attacked and left in the hospital, his condition... it brought back far too many unpleasant memories, memories that she thought she'd managed to get over. Not forgotten -- she'd never wanted to forget her mother, her smiling face, those happy times -- but...

Alisa's mother, Filicia Draco Lowell, had been, in her own words, the product of a mafia boss, an English waitress, and far too much alcohol. Despite her origins and her distaste for her father's job, Filicia had loved her birth family. Her marriage to the founder of Lowell Financial and her refusal to join the "family business" had strained her relationship with her father, but Alisa's Aunt Tracy hadn't minded.

And then that bastard Blofeld had murdered Tracy Draco on her _wedding day_ as some sort of sick revenge against her new husband. Filicia had been devastated.

But no, Blofeld couldn't be satisfied with that. Alisa's new uncle had tried to protect them, of course. Alisa had to admit that much, at least.

He'd just failed. Alisa couldn't really blame her uncle; he hadn't known that Blofeld had hijacked an _orbital laser_, of all things, and his efforts had been focused on foiling more... conventional... means of assassination.

And so the remaining Lowell family had gone into hiding and Alisa Lowell became Alisa Bannings. Her father was kept busy with his company, often leaving her alone in a house that, for all its luxury, lacked the feeling of a true home. Alisa's beloved dogs helped somewhat, but they were a poor substitute for a true family.

Nanoha, Suzuka, and, more recently, Naruto helped fill that void in her heart.

With that in mind, Alisa decided to ask for help from the one person she knew who had experience dealing with this sort of thing. Picking up the phone and dialing, she called her uncle.

"Hello, Uncle James? It's Alisa... something happened tonight and I was wondering if you could help..."

--

Tsukimura Suzuka petted one of her many kittens, her demeanor showing a calmness that she didn't really feel. Petting it helped her calm down, however, and she really needed to do so. After Kyouya had called their family to tell them what had happened Suzuka's older sister, Shinobu, and their head maid, Noel, had hacked into several spy satellites and the police records.

What they had found had utterly chilled Suzuka. Most of the stuff that her family had come up with over the years couldn't match that scene... well, not precisely, anyway. They'd certainly created larger _explosions_. But the physical strength that Nanoha's attacker had demonstrated was beyond anything that even Noel was capable of.

Considering that Noel was an android created by her aunt Sakura and could bench-press several metric tons, that was saying something.

No one messed with Suzuka's friends, but... it would be difficult to fight something like that. No... if Shinobu wanted a way to combat something on that level, she'd need serious resources, the sort that the family that her uncle Kyusaku had married into had available. She had no choice but to ask them for help. With that in mind, she picked up her phone and dialed.

"Mishima Heavy Industries."

"Hello, Kyouko-san? It's Suzuka... yes, well, I need to talk to Aunt Akiko about something... no, not that... no, I just need to see if I can get borrow Poison One for a bit..."

--

Tsukimura Shinobu sighed. Working on mecha usually helped her to relax, but it wasn't having its usual effect for some reason. Putting down her wrench, she decided that perhaps another approach was in order.

The simple truth of the matter was that she had a problem. Someone had messed with her family. That wasn't something that she could let stand.

Oh, Shinobu knew that Naruto wasn't technically part of her family; she just didn't care. To Shinobu, Kyouya's family was her family. Considering that the two of them planned to marry after they graduated from college (even if they hadn't announced those plans to their families yet), Shinobu even had a point. Even so, the technicalities of the issue didn't matter to her. She loved Kyouya. To attack him was to attack her. To attack _his_ family was to attack _hers_.

That was all that she cared about on that count, although the fact that both Nanoha and Naruto were friends of Suzuka's didn't exactly lessen her anger.

Creating something that could fight evenly with whoever or whatever had attacked Naruto and Nanoha would be a challenge, but it was one that she could deal with. The problem was that it wouldn't really help; the initial attack was already over. If Shinobu wanted to help her family she needed to find the people responsible. Unfortunately, she didn't know where to start on that; she was an engineer and a scientist, not a spy or a sweeper.

Shinobu didn't like being powerless. She didn't like not knowing who and what she was up against.

She needed help.

But who could she ask? Shinobu knew that Kyouya and his family had plenty of connections to the intelligence community, but Shinobu could hardly use those connections herself and while Kyouya would keep her somewhat informed, she couldn't count on getting the information she needed.

Yet, Shinobu reminded herself, feeling the familiar warmth soothe her heart somewhat without doing anything to reduce her rage.

No, Shinobu needed an independent source. She needed a sweeper. That left thinking of her family's connections, hoping that someone might be able to recommend someone she could trust... and something like this needed someone _trustworthy_.

Her mother's side of the family was straight out. Shinobu's maternal grandfather had died in a plane crash over Central America with his new wife and their two-year-old son, Ryo, leaving her remaining uncle, Saeba Kyusaku, and Shinobu's mother on their own. Her mother had lost contact with most of her childhood friends before her death, and Shinobu didn't know any of the few she'd stayed in touch with particularly well. Unfortunately, that left her family connections on her mother's side pretty much limited to Uncle Kyusaku and the family he'd married into... and they were in pretty much the same situation she was. Oh, they could _hire_ someone, but she needed someone trustworthy. She was _not_ going to bring added attention to Naruto-kun if she could help it... and while she liked Chairman Mishima on a personal level, the thought of a human who could go toe-to-toe with... whatever that was... was potentially far too tempting to wave in front of the face of the CEO of an arms company.

Besides, the man was far too trusting at times... and knowing Suzuka, she had already asked them for help. The poor girl was too obsessed with brute force solutions at times...

Her father, however... his best friend had been a police officer and Shinobu knew that his children had maintained ties to the underworld. Shinobu wasn't as close to his daughter as she once had been, but they were still friends...

If anyone Shinobu knew would be able to point her in the direction of a trustworthy sweeper, it was Makimura Kaori.

That thought in mind, Shinobu reached for her phone. She had a call to make.

Besides, Kaori's twentieth birthday was coming up. Shinobu would have to get her a nice present...

--

In Hong Kong, the Fourth Division Commander of the Hong Kong Intelligence Defense Corps fumed. It had been three weeks -- _three weeks_ -- since her brother had told her about his family's newest houseguest. He'd added that there was more to the story, things that were important enough that he couldn't talk about them over the phone, even in code.

She had requested permission to visit, but her superior was enough of an anally-retentive idiot that he'd simply told her that she had a number of urgent matters to deal with, and that she could worry about vacations when they were taken care of.

Her entire bloody caseload had been stamped "urgent" the next morning. Office scuttlebutt was that her boss had actually had the _nerve_ to publicly speculate about just what sort of "urgent business" a café-owner could have that would require the attention of a Hong Kong intelligence officer.

Just how did a moronic political hack like him get his job, anyway?

Oh, right. "Political reliability" coupled with connections.

It certainly wasn't common sense.

And now she was getting called to his office. Joy.

When she arrived there, however, she was surprised to see Second Division Commander Shen in place of the usual asshole. "Hello, Division Commander Mikami," he greeted. "I regret to inform you that Commander Huang had an unfortunate accident earlier today."

"Accident?"

"Yes. On his way home he apparently tripped on a Chihuahua and fell into a tank of piranhas. I hear that he might have survived had his struggles not disturbed the controls of a nearby crane and dropped a lit neon sign into the water."

Translated, someone had gotten fed up with his screw-ups. No way in _hell_ was that an accident.

"Anyway," Shen continued, "I'm taking over for him for the time being. I came across a rather... interesting... file while going through his cases and wanted an additional opinion. I don't suppose that you could perhaps provide it?"

Nodding, Division Commander Mikami took the file from Shen as he handed it to her, opened it, and promptly froze. Why on Earth would the Hong Kong Intelligence Defense Corps have a file on an eight-year-old Japanese boy?

When she reached the section on his physical abilities, however, she understood. "Is this... real?"

Division Commander Shen nodded. "Yes," he confirmed. "I know that it's possible for a practitioner of your style of martial arts to go beyond what would normally be considered possible, but this..." Commander Shen shrugged. "It's not to be expected of one so young."

"No... the real give-away is the stamina he's displayed. I don't think we've seen the limits of his ability..."

Shen nodded. "Our analysts agree with you."

"I see," the female commander commented before resuming her reading... and again pausing in shock. "He's _what_?"

"The boy is apparently a member of the Japanese imperial family. We're not sure about the exact relationship, but the Japanese Emperor signed several papers on the boy's behalf, claiming his right to do so as the boy's closest relative in this world."

"Don't you mean closest living relative?"

"The wording was as I said."

"I see."

There were several more surprises as she continued to read, but nothing terribly significant. "I assume that the file was censored somewhat?" she somewhat sarcastically asked as she put down the file.

"The actual names of the persons involved were removed and replaced by codenames," Shen agreed, "as were locations. We're keeping those on a need-to-know basis."

"Anything else?"

"About three hours ago, the subject of that file and one of his friends were attacked. Analysis believes that it was a retrieval attempt by the people responsible for his... condition... prior to his transfer to his current school."

In other words, the bastards who tried to keep him ignorant of his true heritage and raise him as a living weapon tried to get him back. "Any intel on them?"

"Very little. We suspect a rogue faction of the Japanese government, but the Japanese are trying to keep the matter quiet." Shen paused for a moment before handing his colleague several papers. "These are satellite photos of the site of the retrieval attempt."

Looking at them, Division Commander Mikami couldn't help but be chilled. "Casualties?"

"The boy was taken to a hospital in critical condition and his companion was uninjured. No trace was found of the attackers."

"Are we doing anything about this?"

"Officially, this isn't within our jurisdiction and unless we're asked we can't lend support without risking an international incident. Unofficially, the continued existence of such an organization is something that we find... extremely regrettable."

In other words, they'd help in whatever way they could.

"On another note," Shen stated, "I believe that you put in a request for some time off, citing urgent family business?"

"Yes."

"Consider it approved."

Division Commander Mikami blinked before her face lit up into a genuine smile. "Thank you very much."

As she left the office Mikami Misato idly wondered if little Nanoha-chan remembered what her aunt looked like. Misato hadn't seen the girl in years.

--

In Naruto's hospital room a ferret stirred, wincing as the movement reminded him of his injuries. Opening his eyes, the ferret glanced around, hoping to find some hint of what had happened.

"Mom, Dad," a voice that the ferret recognized as belonging to the girl to whom he'd given Raising Heart called out, "Mr. Ferret's awake!"

Forcing his head to clear, the ferret spoke up. "That boy... is he alright? I tried to heal him, but I didn't have enough magical power..."

"Magical power, eh?" an unfamiliar man asked. "Well, Naruto-kun is resting right now, but the doctors think he'll make a full recovery."

The ferret let out a relieved sigh. "Good." Pausing for a moment, it started crying. "I'm sorry... I am so sorry for involving you in this..."

An unfamiliar woman spoke up at that. "You were injured and being hunted, were you not? It is only natural for one in such a such a state to call for help. More importantly, why was it that only Nanoha-chan and Naruto-kun could hear your call?"

"Ah," the ferret answered. "I used a method that mages use to communicate... only someone who possesses magical powers would have been able to hear me."

"I see," the unfamiliar man remarked. "You were hoping for a trained magic user, not two untrained children with latent powers, right?"

"Yes," the ferret admitted. "But for someone whose powers were still latent to be able to hear my call, they would have needed to have both considerable potential power and the proper nature to use Raising Heart."

The girl -- Nanoha -- spoke up. "That red jewel-staff-thing, right?"

"Yes. Raising Heart is an Intelligent Device, a tool possesses its own will and that assists its wielder in bringing forth their magical potential. It can convert its user's will into workable spells, so..."

"So only someone who could help you would hear your call, right?"

"Or so I thought," the ferret replied before bowing as deeply as his bandaged and injured form would allow. "I'm very, very sorry..."

"It's alright," Nanoha reassured him, wiping a tear off his face. "We don't blame you..." She paused for a moment before visibly realizing something. "Shouldn't we introduce ourselves?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Takamachi Nanoha, a third-grade elementary student. My family and good friends call me Nanoha."

"I'm Yuuno Scrya. Scrya is a family name so my given name is Yuuno."

"Yuuno-kun, huh? The boy lying on that bed is my little brother, Namikaze Naruto."

Yuuno flinched at the reminder. "I'm so, so sorry... It's my fault that you're..."

Nanoha promptly picked him up and stared into his eyes. "Call me Nanoha," she insisted.

Yuuno looked down, unable to meet Nanoha's gaze.

"You could have healed yourself, couldn't you?" Nanoha asked. "You said that you had some power left, so why did you treat Naruto-kun's wounds before your own?"

Yuuno looked up sharply. "After what he did? His injuries were my fault! I couldn't just..."

Nanoha placed a finger on his mouth, effectively silencing him. "And that's why I told you to call me Nanoha," she explained. "What happened... the only one at fault is that monster."

Yuuno looked down again. "I'm afraid that's my fault as well..."

The man -- Nanoha's father? -- spoke up at that. "What do you mean?"

"The Jewel Seeds are ancient relics of my world. They were originally magical stones that could grant the wishes of those that possess them, but sometimes the manifestations of their power become unstable, like what happened last night. Sometimes they'll turn on the stone's user and devour everything in the area, including the user's spirit. There are also times when people will misuse them and get confused, which can also cause them to run wild."

"You tried to use one?"

Yuuno shook his head. "On my home world, I'm an archaeologist. One day, I discovered something in an old rock formation... I sent a team to claim it and put it in safekeeping, but the ship that was taking it away had some sort of accident. Twenty-one Jewel Seeds were scattered across this world because of that."

Nanoha blinked. "From what you've said so far, it's not really your fault that the Jewel Seeds were scattered here, right?"

"But I was the one who first found them," Yuuno insisted. "I came here thinking that I had to find them all and return them to where they should be, but..."

The man nodded in understanding. "I see. I'm Nanoha's father, Takamachi Shiro, by the way."

"I am Takamachi Momoko, Nanoha's mother," the woman added.

"Thank you," Yuuno told them. "Once my powers return I'll leave to continue searching for the Jewel Seeds on my own, so..."

"I'm afraid that we can't allow that," Shiro replied.

"You... can't allow it?"

"Those Jewel Seeds are dangerous, aren't they?" Nanoha rhetorically inquired. "We can't just ignore that they're out there... How many have you found so far?"

"That was only my second one," Yuuno admitted.

"So there are nineteen more out there... It'd be a problem if I missed my normal school or my juku too often, but I can help any other time..."

"Nanoha!" Shiro objected. "It'll be dangerous..."

"But thanks to Yuuno-kun I have the power to help... and if people are going to keep running into things like last night... I can't just leave that alone! If someone's in need and you have the power to help them, you shouldn't hesitate to help them... Father, aren't you the one who taught me that?"

Momoko placed a hand on Shiro's arm, promptly deflating his objections. "Dear... Nanoha is right. All we can do is help as best we can..."

Shiro nodded firmly. "Right. At the very least, we can warn people about the Jewel Seeds... get the authorities looking for them..."

"But...," Yuuno objected.

"Oh, we won't tell them about magic or the Jewel Seeds' real origins. Momoko, your brother should be able to help..."

"Yes," Nanoha's mother agreed. "I will speak to him about the matter."

"Given what happened earlier," Shiro continued, "Nanoha's school won't think anything of her missing class tomorrow..." Shiro paused, looking at the clock. "Err... today, that is. Yuuno-kun, could you take the time to teach her as much as you can?"

Yuuno nodded. "Yes."

"And, Yuuno-kun?" Momoko added. "This time heal your own injuries before focusing on Naruto-kun."

Yuuno blinked. "But..."

"Naruto-kun's doctor is trustworthy, but the paramedics saw enough to at least know that he had broken bones," Shiro explained. "We're already going to have a lot of difficulty explaining the speed with which he's recovering. 'It looked worse than it was' only goes so far, after all, and him being relatively uninjured would actually be more suspicious in some ways than what happened. We're trying to avoid drawing attention to Naruto-kun, so..." Shiro shrugged. "Besides, wouldn't it be easier to train Nanoha if your injuries didn't get in the way?"

Yuuno's eyes widened. "Wait... why are you so concerned about drawing attention to Naruto-san?"

Much to Yuuno's surprise, Nanoha promptly broke into tears. Just what had he stumbled into?

--

A series of explanations later, Yuuno was more than a bit disturbed. To think that the boy who had so courageously faced off against the rampaging Jewel Seed had been... and his motives...

Yuuno understood Nanoha's tears. He understood them all too well.

Unlike Nanoha, Yuuno had noticed the change in Naruto's eyes and the way the whisker-like marks on his cheeks had deepened during the fight. He hadn't thought too much about those details, not knowing of the boy's origins, but they became rather significant when viewed in conjunction with what he'd learned.

As for what had been done to the boy, whatever strange abilities he possessed... Yuuno couldn't think of any organization short of the Time-Space Administration Bureau who had the ability to investigate that properly. Still, after what Naruto had done, the least Yuuno could do was to give it his best effort, to help in whatever way or ways he could.

"So," Shiro asked, forcibly changing the subject, "you said that you come from another world?"

"Y... yes," Yuuno answered as he was startled out of his train of thought.

"Could you tell us a bit about it?"

Glancing at Nanoha and realizing that Shiro's change of topic had been for her sake, Yuuno nodded. "The world I come from is properly called Midchilda, although most people just call it Mid," he explained. "The capitol, Cranagan, is the home to the Time-Space Administration Bureau's Ground Forces... It's a nice world overall, some places more than others... I suppose that its largest claim to fame is that it's the home of the ancient Belkan civilization, although it also has a lot of prestigious magical universities, and a lot of the Bureau's facilities..."

"This 'Time-Space Administration Bureau'..."

"It's a sort of combined judiciary and police force that governs the various dimensions... although they also monitor cultural growth and provide disaster relief..."

Shiro frowned. "Then shouldn't they have sent someone after the Jewel Seeds?"

Yuuno shook his head. "There's been a rash of crimes and several major natural disasters... the Bureau's really shorthanded because of that... Actually, the Saint Church has been saying that it's because the gods are angry about something, but they don't really know what..."

Shiro blinked.

"... and the Bureau doesn't usually become involved with the affairs of un-administrated worlds unless they interfere with dimensional space."

Shiro shook his head. "So you decided to come here."

"Yes."

"About the Jewel Seeds... are they relics of that ancient civilization you mentioned?"

"No... within dimensional space, there are countless worlds. Among them, there was a legendary world with science and technology beyond anything ever seen before or since... but because they were so advanced, they ended up destroying their own world. All that remained were the dangerous relics of that world: the legendary paradise, Al Hazard."

"Like the Jewel Seeds?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes," Yuuno answered, starting to have difficulty staying awake.

Noticing this, Momoko decided to join in the conversation. "We'll talk more tomorrow, okay, Yuuno-kun? For now, just try to rest. You too, Naruto-kun."

Looking at Naruto and seeing his eyes open, Nanoha just blinked before pulling his covers up to his shoulders and moving to the door. "Umm," she stated, "goodnight, Naruto-kun, Yuuno-kun. Sleep well..."

Naruto slept peacefully that night. Yuuno did not.

--

Yuuno had recovered enough energy to heal the worst of his wounds by mid-morning. Determined to avoid failing again, to prevent another from being injured by the artefacts he'd discovered, Yuuno had Kyouya take him and Nanoha to a secluded area to start her training.

Naruto, in the meantime, found himself increasingly frustrated by the state of his legs. It wasn't so much the injuries themselves that bothered him -- given how he had gotten them, he didn't regret it for a moment -- it was the infernal contraption that the doctors called a "wheelchair".

He'd seen them before, of course, but actually operating one? It was surprisingly annoying.

When he'd voiced his frustrations, however, Momoko had simply smiled and told him to remember the feeling because it would encourage him to avoid getting hurt so badly in the future. Naruto supposed he could understand her position; there wasn't anything that she could do beyond staying with him and wheeling him around.

That didn't mean that Naruto had to like it. He hated imposing on her in such a manner, needing her to help him move around the hospital. He supposed that he could have moved around somewhat on his own (even if it was a pain)... but Momoko wouldn't _let_ him. It was frustrating. It was irritating. It was smothering. It was... loving and reassuring. Naruto hated it and was grateful for it.

It was almost a relief when Momoko excused herself to go to the bathroom while they were waiting to see Ishida-sensei. Naruto suspected that Momoko was aware of how he was feeling and trying to give him some space. It made him love her all the more... which only added to what he'd been feeling.

Her absence paved the way for an encounter that would change Naruto's life forever.

Several minutes after Momoko left, Naruto tried to stand. It was rather difficult, but he did manage to lift himself out of his chair, ignoring the pain that came from his legs. Unfortunately for his plan, however, one of Ishida-sensei's patients chose that moment to enter the waiting room as her appointment ended.

Startled, Naruto promptly lost his balance and landed in the lap of Ishida-sensei's equally surprised patient. "Eeh?" she remarked as she stared at Naruto's head, his golden hair standing out against the light pink of her sweater.

As she recovered and helped him get up, Naruto couldn't help but notice the way that the twin red and yellow ribbons tied into her chestnut-colored hair helped highlight her eyes... but, more than that, he noticed the loneliness held within the azure orbs.

It mirrored what he'd seen in his own reflection three short weeks before.

--

A.N.: If you've guessed who the various people who were phoned were, you're probably right. For those of you familiar with Nanoha... yes, that's Hayate. Yes, I'm evil. I know.

--

Omake:

In Thailand, M. Bison looked over a report from one of Shadowloo's many spymasters. "Oh?" he asked. "Why have you brought this to my attention instead of simply acquiring the subject?"

Cringing, the spymaster promptly answered. "When he was attacked, the boy was accompanied by a young girl... she meets the description, Lord Bison."

Bison sat up, suddenly interested. "Brown hair, blue eyes? Generally cheerful demeanor?"

"Yes, Lord Bison."

Suddenly fearful, Bison remembered the moment that had set him on the path of Psycho Power and founding Shadowloo, the overwhelming terror that he had promised himself that he would never feel again, and the young girl he had met in Central America who had nearly... befriended... him. "Do you have a file on the girl?"

"Yes, Lord Bison," the man offered, handing the would-be dictator a file.

Opening it and skimming through, Bison suddenly froze. "Were any of our agents responsible for the attack?"

"No, Lord Bison. The identity of the attackers remains unknown."

Bison felt greatly relieved, but he couldn't show weakness -- not now, not when _she_ was involved. "Good. Order all Shadowloo operatives out of Uminari... no, that might not be enough. Order all Shadowloo operatives to abandon all activity in Japan and retreat beyond its borders. If you recieve any further information pertaining to this case, inform me at once."

"Yes, my lord," the confused spook replied.

As the spymaster left Bison reached for some wine, wondering just who the Hell was stupid enough to mess with Sasaki Momoko's children. Even after all these years, the memory of her smiling face still sent chills down his spine. _That moment_ was forever etched on his memory, eternally haunting his nightmares no matter how much power he obtained, no matter how strong his forces became. No matter what happened, he knew that he'd never forget _those words_: "Oh my. Where did that detonator go, anyway?"


	5. Sun and Moon

The pain of being alone and the sadness of not having anyone to support you were things that Naruto knew quite well. Because there was someone important to him who shared things with him and helped him overcome that pain, Naruto was where he was now.

But, without the power of magic, without fighting, what could he do? And how should he answer those sad eyes?

A tale of spectacular overkill begins now.

--

Overkill,

A Naruto Fanfiction,

By Aleh

Chapter Four: Sun and Moon

--

Disclaimer: I own none of the series that I've used or referenced within this story.

--

As Shiro left the Midoriya in a rush, Joushima Akira and Feng Lianfei shared a brief glance. Their rivalry was on hold. They had more important things to deal with.

The Takamachis' young charge had managed to charm them from their first meeting with his cheerfulness and simple sincerity. Oh, they hadn't been fooled by the mask -- they weren't _that_ naïve -- but it hadn't taken them long to understand why he wore it. When they'd found out his history, what had happened to make him wear that mask, they'd wanted little more than for those false smiles to turn into true ones. Their rivalry had started to shift focus from backroom brawls to seeing who could elicit more of those precious treasures from their new little brother figure.

That and they'd sworn to do everything in their power to utterly, totally _ruin_ the people responsible for what had happened to him... but they had their priorities. Helping the poor child came first. Fortunately, the Takamachi family and Naruto's friends seemed to have that well in hand, but that didn't mean that there wasn't room for the two waitresses to contribute.

With him in the hospital, they'd do their best to help the Takamachi family as they tried to support him. They couldn't do much more than that beyond visiting him, which they would do as soon as the Midoriya closed. For the time being, he needed his family.

And if either of them ever found out who was responsible for the attack on him and Nanoha, they'd... ensure... that the bastard regretted it.

--

Fortunately for Naruto, the young girl he'd fallen on was quite understanding about the situation. Introducing herself as Yagami Hayate, the wheelchair-bound girl helped Naruto back into his own chair... although Hayate's giggling didn't help Naruto to calm down.

Unfortunately for the boy, Ishida-sensei was considerably less amused. Naruto would have loved to chat with Hayate, but the doctor had taken him aside and started giving him a rather stern lecture about taking care of himself. After shaking her head at Naruto's predicament Hayate excused herself and moved to leave, Naruto detecting a hint of sadness in her eyes.

Ishida-sensei's lecture was bad enough in a way, but Momoko's reaction to hearing what Naruto had tried affected him far more. Crying, she begged Naruto not to do something like that again as she told him that she didn't know what she'd do if he... Momoko hadn't completed that sentence, instead embracing her surrogate son and sobbing onto his shoulder.

As Naruto resolved to never again try something like what he had and to follow the doctor's instructions to the letter, he couldn't help but wonder what had given Hayate's eyes that sad, lonely quality. Naruto recognized it well, having seen it in the mirror every day for most of his life.

Even when Momoko finally allowed Naruto and Ishida-sensei to calm her down and they started discussing his condition and prognosis, Naruto couldn't get his mind off of his brief encounter with the blue-eyed girl who reminded him so strongly of his past. He was, however, startled out of his thoughts when his surrogate mother decided to call him on his inattention.

"Is something bothering you, Naruto-kun?"

"Those eyes...," he replied. "Hayate-chan's eyes were..."

Momoko blinked. "Her eyes were...?"

"... like mine. She's alone, isn't she?"

Ishida-sensei didn't have to say anything. Her expression was answer enough.

--

Not long after Naruto and Momoko left Ishida-sensei's office, Naruto still preoccupied by his encounter with Hayate, Kyouya returned to the hospital. After a brief conversation, Momoko smiled and excused herself, leaving Kyouya and Naruto alone in his room.

"Naruto-kun," Kyouya began, "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Naruto nodded. "Mom told me... but how's Nanoha-chan?"

"Dad's watching over her training... but from what I saw, she was coming along at a pretty impressive pace. Yuuno was really amazed at how fast she was learning." Kyouya shook his head at that. "But what I wanted to talk to you about was your own training."

"My... training?" Naruto asked, looking down at his cast-clad legs. "How can I train with my legs like this?"

Kyouya chuckled. "There are techniques that you can practice even when you can't use your legs, but that's only part of it." His face turned serious. "Naruto-kun, I know that I've been helping you refine your skills with the style you learned in Konoha, but there's a limit to how much I can help you with a style that I don't know myself. As much as I hate to admit it, we're rapidly reaching that point. Without knowing the style, I can't teach you the parts of it that you don't know. That leaves us with two options."

Naruto was hanging onto Kyouya's every word by that point, thoughts of Hayate forced to the back of his mind. With Nanoha learning magic and hunting the Jewel Seeds, she'd be constantly getting into dangerous situations... but with Naruto's level of ability, he couldn't defeat an opponent at the level of the _thing_ that had hurt him. Nanoha had managed to take it out almost effortlessly... and without training. Nanoha would only be improving from there.

Naruto wasn't under any illusion that what they'd faced against would be the strongest enemy they'd encounter. Nanoha would be risking her life, fighting foes that could utterly crush Naruto as he was. Unless he got stronger, he wouldn't be able to stand by her, much less protect her. Unless he got stronger, he wouldn't even be able to _try_. That wasn't something he could allow.

"Either we can try to create a new style based on what we know of yours or I can teach you an entirely new style." Kyouya paused for a moment. "In other words, would you like to learn the Mikami Fuwa?"

It took Naruto all of one second to make his decision.

--

Whatever Naruto had expected his first lesson in the Mikami Fuwa style to be on, it wasn't breathing. When he asked, Kyouya admitted that it was actually the second traditional lesson of the Mikami Fuwa, not the first, but that Naruto couldn't exactly learn to fall properly while his legs were in casts.

Naruto understood that. He didn't understand why breathing was so important. Trusting Kyouya, however, he diligently worked on the lesson anyway.

When he started to feel almost like his body was floating on air, he started to understand. When Kyouya explained that the feeling was his spiritual energy filling him, Naruto smiled and nodded enthusiastically, losing his concentration. It took him several minutes to recapture the sensation, but Naruto didn't begrudge that time... especially after Kyouya told him that many of the advanced techniques of the Mikami Fuwa used spiritual energy to push the body beyond what would normally be possible.

Full understanding came when Kyouya started going over the basics of a healing meditation that focused spiritual energy to wounds. Naruto suspected that it wasn't a technique that was normally taught to new students of the Mikami Fuwa so early in their training... which meant that Kyouya was teaching it to him in an effort to help him recover. When Naruto's brother-figure confirmed his suspicions, Naruto was deeply touched.

As Kyouya called a halt to the session, noticing that Naruto was having difficulty continuing, Naruto once again allowed his mind to wander. Hayate's eyes once again haunted his thoughts as he let Kyouya and Momoko take him to the hospital's cafeteria for lunch.

--

Yagami Hayate stared into her food. She knew that she should eat, that she needed to keep her energy up if she wanted to stay healthy. She just wasn't able to bring herself to care.

Her meeting with Ishida-sensei and encounter with that blond-haired boy had cheered her up somewhat, but the simple truth of the matter was that she was tired of her life. Between the constant loneliness of having neither family nor friends for support and the constant struggle of daily life while stuck in a wheelchair, Hayate was tired and on the verge of giving up. The only reason she hadn't done so yet was that she knew that doing so would let down both Ishida-sensei and her uncle.

Hayate genuinely appreciated everything Ishida-sensei had done for her. Her gratitude to her honorary uncle -- the friend of her father's who'd been managing her parents' estate -- was also considerable. Still, her uncle didn't live in Japan and Ishida-sensei was Hayate's doctor, not her family.

"Hiya, Hayate-chan!"

Hayate was broken out of her thoughts by the voice of the boy she'd run into earlier. "Ah, hello," she replied, matching his smile as she looked up and into his warm blue eyes.

"You don't need to pretend, Hayate-chan," the golden-haired youth stated, suddenly serious. "I understand."

Hayate froze. He couldn't mean what she thought she did, could he? "Wha... how?"

"I'm an orphan," the boy explained. "I grew up without parents or siblings... Old Man Hokage was kind enough to support me, but..." He shrugged. "I used to pretend that I was happy, that the situation didn't bother me. It wasn't true... I guess I just got sick of crying, but-" He stopped talking for a moment as he tried wheel himself a bit closer only to have his wheelchair turn and bump one of his cast-clad legs into of the legs of the table Hayate was sitting at. "Stupid wheelchair," he muttered, effectively breaking the moment.

Hayate couldn't help but giggle at the expression on his face. When he slipped into an exaggerated pout, Hayate broke into all-out laughter. Realizing what had happened, Hayate's companion soon joined her in laughing.

"Anyway," the golden-haired youth continued after their laughter had died down, "I'm Namikaze Naruto. Do you want to be friends?"

Hayate's thoughts rapidly raced through her head. Not knowing what to do, how to respond, she did nothing but stare.

Increasingly nervous at Hayate's reaction, Naruto started to fidget. "Umm... if you don't want to..."

Hayate shook, horrified at what she'd done. He _understood_ and she'd driven him... "No! I do want to! I just didn't know..."

"It's simple," Naruto gently stated, echoing Nanoha's words to him when they'd first met. "Becoming friends is really..."

Hayate giggled. "Not that," she corrected. "I just didn't know what to say."

Naruto's face returned to the same exaggerated pout he'd used earlier. "And I thought that I'd finally have a chance to use the speech Nanoha-chan gave me when we first met," he jokingly complained.

Hayate promptly broke up, her laughter a mix of relief and amusement over her new friend's ridiculously corny act. Naruto soon started laughing as well, quite aware of what he'd looked like as Nanoha hadn't exactly been reluctant to tell him after the first time he'd tried it.

"So," Naruto tactlessly inquired after they had again calmed down, "what are you here for?"

--

Naruto didn't know what to think when Hayate finished. Steadily losing the ability to move your legs was one thing, but not knowing _why_... Naruto didn't know what to say or what to do.

On the other hand...

"Don't worry, Hayate-chan," Naruto reassured her. "I'm sure that if anyone can help, it's Ishida-sensei!"

Hayate giggled despite knowing what Naruto was trying to do. His words didn't do much to help her cheer up; she trusted her doctor and had told herself the same thing many times. Naruto's blatant overacting, however, had worked wonders.

"And you?" Hayate asked, gesturing in the direction of Naruto's cast-bound legs.

"Ah, I just got into a fight with some sort of monster... although it was apparently really the power of some sort of ancient, wish-granting magical artifact given physical form."

Hayate stared at her friend. "If you don't want to tell me..."

"Oh, no," Naruto insisted. "It really happened. I broke my legs pushing Nanoha-chan out of the way when it charged us."

Not knowing what to say to that, Hayate latched onto one part of it. "Nanoha-chan?"

Naruto smiled brightly at the name and launched into a rather detailed description of his first friend, starting with how they first met. Hayate quickly found herself overwhelmed by the sheer _strangeness_ of the story.

"Wait... you fell on her? Literally?"

"Well...," Naruto started to reply, only to be interrupted by someone else entering the conversation.

"Naruto-kun," Kyouya asked, grabbing Naruto from behind and pressing his knuckles into his little brother's head, "What are you telling her?"

"Kyouya-niichan," Naruto lightheartedly complained as Kyouya ground his digits into Naruto's skull, "stop that!"

"Umm," Hayate started.

"Ah, yes," Kyouya explained. "I'm Takamachi Kyouya." Kyouya smiled at Hayate. "My family took Naruto in about a month ago, so I suppose that makes me his foster brother." Giving a Hayate a conspiratorial wink, he continued, "Honestly, we didn't expect him to become part of the family as quickly as he did, but he's already one of us -- we wouldn't know what to do without him."

Touched by his brother's sentiment, Naruto started to tear up. Hayate couldn't suppress a laugh at how he looked; Kyouya still hadn't released Naruto from his headlock or stopped rubbing his knuckles against Naruto's skull and the combination of "touched" and "in pain" in Naruto's expression was more than a bit odd.

"Anyway, Naruto-kun," Kyouya remarked, removing his fist but leaving Naruto in a headlock, "Mom's on her way over with lunch. Do you think your new friend would like to eat with us?"

"Yes," Hayate hastily agreed.

Hayate usually hated hospital food. For one meal, however, she was able to enjoy it.

--

Kyouya was extremely surprised when Naruto asked to continue their training after they said their goodbyes to Hayate. From what he'd been able to tell, Naruto had nearly pushed himself to his limit earlier. Kyouya knew fully well just how much spiritual energy his brother had used when training. Most of it had been wasted, but Naruto had called on more raw power than Miyuki had ever managed to; considering that Naruto was a beginner, that effort should have left him drained for days.

It wasn't the amount of power Naruto could call on that surprised Kyouya. It wasn't the speed with which Naruto learned. It wasn't even Naruto's stamina while training. It was the boy's recovery rate.

Then again, Kyouya supposed, he should have expected that. Given what Naruto had done the previous night...

After nearly two hours of training that would have left most beginners struggling to get out of bed the next morning, Naruto needed a forty-five minute break and some food before he was ready to start up again. Kyouya found himself hard-pressed to curb his brother's enthusiasm but knew that control was more important than anything else in what they were doing. Reminding Naruto to calm himself and focus on not wasting spiritual energy took a lot of Kyouya's time, but since every bit of energy that Naruto didn't waste was one more bit that he could _use_, Kyouya felt that it was worth the effort.

Naruto's second practice session of the day was considerably longer than the first, in part because of that fact. Without him using nearly as much energy as he could have, the exercises were much less tiring.

"Hey, Kyouya-niichan," Naruto asked after a while, "how long do you think it'll be until I can get out of here?"

"The hospital, you mean?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered, vigorously nodding.

"Well, we're not really sure. If it was just your legs, they'd let you go home today... the real delay is because of the blow you took to your side. Judging by how much you've already healed, I'd say that they _could_ release you now. The real question is whether or not we should let them."

"What do you..." Naruto paused in his question as the room seemed to shift in color, almost looking like a negative photo, and Kyouya suddenly stopped moving. Naruto's head snapped to face the direction he instinctively knew whatever caused the odd event had come from before things returned to their normal state.

Kyouya looked at his little brother, somewhat confused, but more than a bit alarmed by Naruto's sudden shift.

"What was that?" Naruto forcibly inquired, still staring at one of the room's walls.

"What happened?"

They didn't get their answers until much later, but the event effectively ended their training for the day.

--

Feng Lianfei struggled to maintain her smile as she took in the orders of the mid-afternoon rush. It seemed like every elementary-school student in Uminari had decided to visit the Midoriya as soon as their schools let out.

Then again, judging by the uniforms, it was just most of Nanoha's class and a large portion of the other classes and grades at Seishou Auxiliary. While most of them had simply signed cards or the like, the Midoriya was still busier than usual. Coupled with the Takamachis' absence, this left her expending quite a bit of effort to keep up with things.

As she took another set of orders to the kitchen so that Akira and the others could start filling them, she noticed a quiet descend on the café as the normal chatter that their customers normally produced suddenly stopped. Quickly dropping off the orders, the green-haired waitress returned to the main area of the Midoriya to investigate.

She noticed the source of the sudden silence almost instantly. It was rather hard to _avoid_ noticing the three people whose entrance into the shop had caused the commotion... or lack thereof.

The heavyset man in the black kimono with grey hakama and a matte olive haori would have been noticeable enough even without the fact that he was noticeably missing a portion of one of his fingers. The scars that crossed his face were difficult to avoid noticing as well. His companions, however...

Highly tattooed, wearing traditional Japanese clothing... could they be any less obviously yakuza? Judging by the fact that they weren't wearing haori and the way that they were standing relative to their leader, they were bodyguards... which made the party's leader fairly high-ranking within the yakuza.

Joy.

Lianfei did _not_ like the way that the bald one was eying her, either.

"Welcome to the Midoriya," she greeted them, trying to keep her... apprehension... out of her voice. "Might I be able to help you with something?"

"Yes," the group's leader answered. "I was hoping to speak with your employers if they would happen to be available."

Lianfei felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she slightly narrowed her eyes. "Would this happen to be about last night's incident?"

"Yep," the hairless guard confirmed. "So hurry up and get your bosses, okay?"

"Renji," the party's leader warned, holding a hand to prevent his guard from stepping forward.

"I'm afraid that they're unavailable to ones such as you," Midoriya's overworked attendant coldly answered. "Should you wish to disagree, I would be happy to discuss the matter at your convenience."

"Hey," the bald gangster objected, "don't be like that. The boss-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Lianfei slipped into a combat stance and placed a hand in front of his chest. A moment later a blast of spiritual energy threw the gangster through the café's door and into the street. "Will any further discussions be necessary?"

"Kazuo," the boss instructed his other follower, "go outside."

"Boss?"

"Tell Renji to go home. I'll deal with him later."

"Understood."

It was at that moment that Akira walked into the main area of the Midoriya. "What's going on, Ren?"

Turning towards her fellow waitress, Lianfei made a series of gestures with her hands. Akira quickly settled into a combat stance and faced the intruder.

Much to the two shop attendants' confusion, however, the yakuza boss promptly kneeled and bowed towards them, pressing his forehead to the floor. "Please forgive us for this misunderstanding. I will offer a formal apology for my subordinate's rudeness if you wish..."

Realizing just what he meant, Ren started and dropped her stance. "Then last night's events..."

"Those were..."

"Oh my. What brings you to Midoriya, Kodama-kun?" Momoko asked as she entered the café.

"Mo... Momoko-sama," the yakuza boss exclaimed, lifting his head enough to turn and look at the Takamachi matriarch. "I heard about what happened to your children and wanted to offer my condolences, but..."

Momoko serenely nodded, a cheerful smile gracing her face. "I see. It seems that there has been a bit of a misunderstanding, has there not?"

Kodama nodded furiously, as if trying to placate a god's anger. "Yes. One of my bodyguards was unspeakably rude. I had just offered to apologize on his behalf..."

"Oh dear," Momoko answered, holding a hand slightly in front of her mouth. "I don't believe that such a thing will be necessary... we are old friends, after all."

"Thank you very much, Momoko-sama!"

Momoko simply walked to the yakuza boss and offered him one of her hands. "I should be the one thanking you," she offered, helping him up. "Coming all this way was really gracious of you."

"Not at all, Momoko-sama," he said as he took Momoko's hand and used her support to stand up. "What kind of old friend would I be if I didn't come to show my support at a time like this?"

"Oh, yes," Momoko remarked. "Ren-chan, Akira-chan, this is Taoka Kodama, an old friend of mine from the time I spent working with the JSDF. Kodama-kun, these are Feng Lianfei and Joushima Akira, friends of my family who help out here at the Midoriya."

"Please treat us kindly," Ren and Akira chimed, bowing.

"Yes," Kodama replied, bowing as well. "It is good to know that Momoko-sama has such loyal friends."

"I hate to run like this," Akira stated, "but I really need to take the cookies out of the oven... if you could excuse me?"

"O... of course," Kodama stated. "Please. Feel free."

"Yes, Akira-chan," Momoko agreed. "It would be a shame to waste them."

As Akira left to return to the kitchen, a pale and shaking Kodama turned to Momoko. "You have been training them in the art of... baking cookies?"

"This is a café," Ren offered. "Our employers are not available every day; we need to be able to handle the baking when they are not."

"Yes... I see," Kodama replied, placing a strange emphasis on his words. "It is good to know that. It would truly be a tragedy if Momoko-sama's talents in baking were lost to our country."

"Kodama-kun, you flatterer," Momoko objected, blushing. "I am not _that_ skilled at cooking."

Taoka Kodama shook his head firmly. "We of the Yamaguchi-gumi still remember how you managed to... thoroughly befriend... us with your skills at... baking cookies. As the kumicho, I assure you that every bite of your cookies was like a taste of heaven."

"Oh my, Kodama-kun. I'm not worthy of such praise."

"We will have to disagree on that," Kodama allowed. "By the way, do you have any leads on who was responsible for last night's... events? As an old friend, it would be my pleasure to discuss their rudeness with the parties involved."

Momoko smiled brightly. "Thank you, Kodama-kun, but the matter has already been resolved."

Kodama lost a great deal of his nervousness. "I am very much relieved to know that."

"Ren-chan, could you take care of the orders for a bit longer?" Momoko asked. "I'm afraid that Kodama-kun and I have much to catch up on."

"Of course," Ren answered, bowing. "If you'd excuse me."

As Ren continued to wait the tables, she couldn't help but hear snippets of Momoko and Kodama's conversation.

"... unfortunately, Ren-chan tends to overcook them slightly... she's quite talented with crème puffs, though."

"... crème puffs?"

"... It is good to see that Nanoha-chan takes after her mother... such a friendly child..."

Kodama's face lost promptly all blood as he started shaking at that.

By the time he left, clutching a plate of chocolate-chip cookies like a lifeline, Taoka Kodama was thoroughly terrified.

--

Nanoha and Shiro returned to the hospital late in the afternoon, Yuuno hiding himself in Nanoha's backpack. While Shiro knew that they wouldn't be challenged over Yuuno's presence even if he openly rode in on Nanoha's shoulder, he also knew that very fact would attract attention that they didn't want.

"Hello, Naruto-kun, Oniisan," Nanoha greeted.

"Hiya, Nanoha-chan, Uncle Shiro," Naruto enthusiastically replied. "How'd your training go?"

Yuuno promptly climbed onto Nanoha's shoulder. "She... surpassed me," he reluctantly admitted.

"Oh no," Nanoha insisted. "I'm sure that you have much, much more to teach me!"

"Well," Yuuno confessed, "there are areas of magic that I haven't started to teach you yet, like healing magic and teleportation, but..."

"See?"

Yuuno firmly shook his head. "No... in terms of attacking, defense, and binding magic, you're already superior to me. It's really impressive!"

Nanoha blushed for a moment, not really knowing what to say, before starting and turning to her hospitalized friend. "More importantly," Nanoha blurted out, starting to run her questions and statements together as she let everything out in a rush and moved over to Naruto, and fussed over his injured side. "Naruto-kun, are you alright? It must be lonely to be here like this. Are they feeding you well?"

Seeing his friend's concern and sudden change of mood, Naruto started. "I'm fine, Nanoha-chan, see?" he hastily reassured her, lifting his shirt and tearing off the bandages that adorned his side to show Nanoha the unblemished skin where he'd been pierced through the previous night. "The food's not Mom's cooking, but I've had worse... and I've already made a new friend!"

Shiro and Kyouya exchanged a quick glance at that. Nanoha, however, promptly perked up. "A new friend? Really?"

"Yeah!" Naruto answered. "Her name's Hayate-chan... I think you'll get along great!"

"Thank goodness," Nanoha responded, her eyes tearing up. "I was so worried..."

"Don't worry, Nanoha-chan," the golden-haired boy reassured his friend. "I should be out of here pretty soon -- Kyouya-niichan's been teaching me this really cool healing technique! See how well it works?"

Shiro decided to speak up at that. "Umm... Naruto-kun? About that..."

"Yes, Dad?" Naruto asked, trying out the form of address that Momoko had suggested to him earlier in the day and being rewarded with a smile.

"Those healing meditations don't do much to speed up healing."

Naruto blinked. "B... but..."

Shiro shook his head. "Naruto-kun, with what happened to your legs... most people wouldn't recover at all. Even if they somehow did, they'd be crippled for life. The Mikami Fuwa has some very powerful healing techniques, but they're intended to insure that you heal _properly_, not _quickly_."

"But Naruto-kun's already recovered so much!" Nanoha objected.

"I know," Shiro told her. "It just wasn't the Mikami Fuwa's techniques that were responsible. That was... something else." He paused for a moment to turn to their extraterrestrial guest. "Yuuno-kun, you said that you tried to heal him earlier... could this be a result of that?"

The ferret-changeling shook his head firmly. "No... the healing spell I cast was dispelled when I passed out... I've never heard of it acting at all like this."

"So Naruto-kun's healing is due to something else," Kyouya stated.

Shiro nodded. "It's likely something unique to him, too," he elaborated, deliberately not voicing his suspicions.

"I see," Yuuno observed. "Should I try to heal him? I mean..."

Shiro shook his head. "His legs are hardly visible in those casts, but they can't come off for a while, anyway. It would probably be for the best if you saved your power -- after what happened earlier, I suspect that you'll need it."

Naruto suddenly moved forward, startling Nanoha. "What? What happened?" he exclaimed.

"Another of the Jewel Seeds was activated," Yuuno told him, jumping off of Nanoha's shoulder and landing next to Naruto on the hospital bed.

"Don't worry," Nanoha reassured her friend. "No one was hurt..."

"Yes, although the Uminari Sengen Jinja needs new torii," Shiro answered, referring to the wooden red gates that marked the boundary of a Shinto shrine. "You really need to be more careful with that 'Divine Buster' of yours, Nanoha."

"I will, Father," Nanoha returned, embarrassedly scratching the back of her head.

"Your father's right, Nanoha," Yuuno added. "Even if we use barrier magic to reduce the collateral damage, being too reckless with your magic can be dangerous..."

Naruto started. "You mean... if it's that dangerous... Nanoha-chan, you need to stop! I'll help with--"

"It's not like that, Naruto-kun," Kyouya corrected. "Yuuno-kun talked with us about that earlier. It's like our practice earlier -- you remember how tired you were when we were done?"

Naruto mutely nodded.

"Yuuno-kun just means that if Nanoha-chan is reckless, she'll wear herself out quickly... and if she gets tired in the middle of a fight..."

Naruto again nodded his head. "I see," he said, much more calmly. "But still..."

"That's not entirely true," Yuuno observed.

"What?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing.

"There are ways to push yourself beyond your normal limits with magic," Yuuno explained. "But they can put a lot of strain on your body and your Device..."

"There are similar techniques in the martial arts," Shiro commented.

"I see," Naruto observed, forcing down his instinctive answer, and forced himself to remain calm throughout the remainder of their conversation. It wasn't until later, after Nanoha had left to use the bathroom, that he made his move.

"Yuuno-kun," he asked, "I know you're busy teaching Nanoha-chan, but when she's at school or in her juku... do you think you could teach me how to use magic, too?"

--

Omake: What if Hayate's Uncle Really Was Her Uncle? Part One

Hayate returned home with a smile on her face. For the first time since she'd had to withdraw from school, she had a friend. The world suddenly seemed like a much brighter place.

She couldn't wait to tell her uncle; she knew that he'd be much relieved to hear it.

Hayate knew that her uncle loved her, even if he wasn't the best at showing it, and that a number of family obligations kept him from staying in Uminari. Besides, while she missed him, even Hayate had to admit that her father's older brother wasn't the world's best role-model for a young girl.

With those thoughts in mind, Hayate made a beeline for the phone and dialed her uncle.

"Hello," her uncle grumpily answered.

"Hello, Uncle Iori," Hayate greeted. "You wouldn't believe what happened today..."

--

Omake 2: What if Hayate's Uncle Really Was Her Uncle? Part Two

Hayate returned home with a smile on her face. For the first time since she'd had to withdraw from school, she had a friend. The world suddenly seemed like a much brighter place.

She couldn't wait to tell her uncle; she knew that he'd be much relieved to hear it.

Hayate really regretted that her uncle's work kept him away from Uminari, but with the whole Kira mess and his role in the investigation, she couldn't blame him for keeping her at an arm's length. The sheer _danger_ he was in nearly chilled her to the bone.

"Hi, Aunt Sachiko," Hayate greeted. "Is Uncle Soichiro in?"

Later that day, Yagami Light hacked into the records at Seishou Auxiliary and discovered a new purpose in life... and, the next day, L Lawliet found himself opening a rather strange e-mail attachment that most certainly attracted his attention, much to his surprise.

It wasn't every day that an elementary-school student's records captured the attention of the world's greatest detective, but Namikaze Naruto's certainly managed it.


	6. Mokkori Trouble, Part One

Naruto was just supposed to be an ordinary child in Konoha, but a series of sudden situations changed everything. In the first, Naruto lost his birth family and gained a giant, nine-tailed fox sealed in his stomach. In the second, Naruto gained a true friend. As he walked the path before him, Naruto couldn't help but wonder. Were the encounters that introduced him to the world of magic fate? Were they coincidence? Were they the work of the gods' meddling?

Naruto wasn't quite sure, but...

A tale of spectacular overkill begins now.

-----------

Overkill,

A Naruto Fanfiction,

By Aleh

Chapter Five: Mokkori Trouble, Part One

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the series used or referenced in this fic.

Also, I owe SoftRogue thanks for his suggestion of a cover story for the Seeds.

-----------

A woman walked through the streets of Uminari as the breeze blew through her chestnut-colored hair. Her casual manner of dress and bearing belied the way she felt as she approached her brother and sister-in-law's café. Before she could enter, however, a man who she recognized as the kumicho of Japan's strongest Yakuza group exited, his eyes betraying the utter, complete terror that he felt to the woman's experienced eyes.

"Momoko-chan, Oniichan," Mikami Misato thought, "just what have you gotten yourselves involved in?"

-----------

Slightly under a week later, Nanoha stood facing her school late at night, Raising Heart's staff form in her hand and her Barrier Jacket active. Yuuno was at her side, looking at his pupil and taking in the resolute expression she wore.

"Stand by, ready," Raising Heart declared.

"Lyrical, Magical," Nanoha chanted, swinging Raising Heart. "Jewel Seed Serial Twenty, Seal!"

"Sealing," Raising Heart confirmed.

The sky was lit with pink light for a moment and the Jewel Seed returned to its natural form, that of a small, blue stone. Raising Heart let out a burst of steam from its exhaust ports as the Seed approached.

"Nanoha, good job!" Yuuno told her.

Nanoha just panted from the effort as Raising Heart confirmed its receipt of the Jewel Seed.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, suddenly. "I'm late!"

-----------

In his hospital room, Naruto frowned. He was _finally_ going to be discharged... and Nanoha wasn't there. She'd promised...

Then again, he'd sensed another Jewel Seed activate earlier. He supposed that Nanoha was still dealing with it, but he couldn't help but worry.

The time Naruto had spent in the hospital had passed excruciatingly slowly for him. Sure, his family kept him reasonably busy, rarely leaving him alone and giving him lessons on a variety of subjects. Nanoha even helped him keep up with his schoolwork and their studies at their juku. Alisa and Suzuka also visited as often as they could... and that was discounting the time Naruto spent with Hayate.

Still, it wasn't the same. Naruto had become used to living with his adopted family, spending far more time with his friends, and eating Momoko's cooking. Had it just been the change in rooms, he could have gotten used to it. Had it just been the hospital food, he could have taken it.

Even if his family wouldn't let him become truly lonely, he missed the sense of camaraderie that came with spending most of his time with his friends. He couldn't stand being unable to stand by Nanoha and protect her as she searched for the Jewel Seeds. Perhaps even more than that, he couldn't stand being forced to practically _stay still_ for days on end. For an energetic person like him, it was the worst sort of torture.

The fact that Naruto _knew_ that his legs were already fully healed and that the casts were just for appearances didn't help.

On the plus side, Naruto was showing steady progress in his studies of magic. Yuuno was more than a little impressed at how quickly he'd learned the basics of gathering power, but there was a ready explanation for that -- the techniques for gathering magical energy that Yuuno was teaching him were remarkably similar to the Mikami Fuwa's techniques for gathering spiritual energy.

When Kyouya had commented on this to Yuuno, the ferret-boy had been much more surprised that the Mikami Fuwa had techniques that used spiritual energy than that the techniques were similar. While Yuuno's initial explanation had been difficult for Naruto to fully follow, he had managed to gather that magical energy was made of a mix of spiritual energy and some other type of power which Yuuno called "iryoku" and that magic relied on using your spiritual energy to gather that "iryoku" from the surrounding area.

This was also apparently what made overusing magic put a strain on the user's body. According to Yuuno, spiritual energy coexisted and maintained a balance with yet another type of power in the user's body, something that Yuuno called "physical energy". Using too much of your spiritual energy upset the balance between the two powers, which led to your physical energy surging out of control and damaging your body.

Kyouya had simply nodded at that and made a comment about something called "ten-chi-jin". Yuuno had cheerfully agreed.

On the other hand, those same factors also made magic far safer than would otherwise be expected. "Iryoku" apparently mixed even more readily with that combination of physical and spiritual power than it did with spiritual power alone, creating yet another type of power. Yuuno described it with such words as "inert" and "unstable", which Naruto didn't quite understand, but he managed to gather that it was short-lived and apparently the sort of power more suited to people who spent all day contemplating their navels than the sort who actually _did_ anything...

... which basically boiled down to the fact that it was a lot harder to kill someone with magic than most would expect. As his current situation proved, however, that was certainly not foolproof -- there were a number of ways around that issue, ranging from simply overpowering the victim with enough magical force to snuff their life-force out like a candle flame in a hurricane to using magic to form a physical structure or manipulate an existing physical object.

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of Nanoha running down the stairs to his floor of the hospital. "Sorry I'm late," she frantically apologized, "but there was a Jewel Seed at school. I tried to seal it right away, but it still took time and--"

Chuckling at his daughter's antics, Shiro interrupted her. "That makes five so far, right? You're doing pretty well!"

"But there are still sixteen left!" Nanoha objected.

"Nanoha-chan," Naruto interjected, trying to calm his friend, "Dad's right. You've even managed to find one of them before it activated!"

"And with all of the people looking for them, there's not really much else you can do, Nanoha," Yuuno chided. "I think it'd be a good idea for you to rest tomorrow."

Logically speaking, Nanoha knew that Yuuno was right. The police had enough numbers that one more pair of eyes wouldn't make that much of a difference. "But..."

"Tomorrow, you _will_ rest," Yuuno insisted. "If you don't, you won't be able to last. Besides, you already have plans, right?"

Nanoha smiled at that last reminder, remembering the welcome home party her friends and family were planning for Naruto. "Yeah," she agreed. "I guess that I'll take a small break from Jewel Seed hunting tomorrow."

-----------

Around an hour later, a car pulled up to the Takamachi family's home. Shiro and Kyouya were the first to get out, setting up Naruto's wheelchair and helping him to get out. Nanoha exited with her highly embarrassed friend, lending what support she could.

"Welcome home," Momoko and Miyuki greeted in unison as the four of them entered the house.

"I'm back," Naruto returned, his eyes becoming moist with emotion.

The moment was broken, however, by Misato attaching herself to Naruto like a limpet, his wheelchair seemingly not posing even the slightest obstacle to her apparent efforts to hug the life out of him. "It's good to see you out of the hospital, Naruto-kun," she told her surrogate nephew while fussing over him and apparently inspecting him for injuries.

"Air," Naruto gasped. "Need... air."

"Oh dear," Momoko told her sister-in-law. "You might want to let Naruto-kun go, oneechan... he's not really used to this sort of thing..."

"I know, Momoko-chan," Misato answered, lightening her grip on Naruto enough to let him get a few desperate gulps of air in. "He's missed so much growing up..."

Although he was rather embarrassed by her behavior, Naruto was rather fond of Misato, her attempts to smother him with affection -- usually metaphorically but often literally as well -- aside. While they did manage to cause him considerable embarrassment, those attempts also made her feelings blatantly clear.

It was a nice feeling, the awkwardness of the situations she kept putting him into aside.

"So," Misato asked Kyouya, still clinging to Naruto like a barnacle and nuzzling her cheek against the top of her head while pressing his face into her chest, "how's my cute little nephew's training coming along?"

"He's doing pretty well on _ken_," Kyouya replied, referring to the Mikami's main healing technique. "He won't get much further with it until he can try some of our more advanced techniques. I think I'll start showing him _shin_ tomorrow."

Naruto's reaction to that statement was pretty thoroughly muffled by Misato's breasts.

"Oneechan," Momoko observed, "I think Naruto-kun is trying to say something..."

"Oh dear," Misato answered, pulling herself back. "What was that?"

Naruto simply panted for a moment. "What's '_shin_'?"

"It's the art of seeing things by their sound and other indicatory motions," Miyuki answered. "But why are you teaching him that so early?"

Kyouya nodded. "Yeah, it _is_ early for him to learn that, but _shin_ doesn't require much motion..."

"So you can see in the dark?" Naruto asked.

Shiro chuckled. "And through walls," he added. "But only living or moving things. At the more advanced levels of the technique, you're more sensing spiritual energy than listening per se, but even the basics can be useful."

"It's like a sixth sense, a heightened awareness of the environment, Naruto-kun," Misato explained before pausing and taking a look at the expression of dawning understanding on her nephew's face. A moment later, Naruto once again found his head buried between his surrogate aunt's breasts. "You're so _cuuuute_ when you're confused!" Misato exclaimed, glomping him.

"Oh my," Momoko remarked as her youngest daughter suddenly slumped a bit, Nanoha's warm smile taking on a tired quality. "Nanoha, are you alright?"

"Mmph," Naruto tried to ask, unable to really say anything with his mouth pressed into his aunt's sternum.

"I'm alright," Nanoha told her mother. "Just a little tired..."

And, with those words, Naruto's friend collapsed, still smiling even as her face pressed into the floor of her home.

Several cries of "Nanoha!" echoed throughout the Takamachi home.

-----------

Nanoha awoke to the sound of Yuuno's voice. "... I'm really sorry for not noticing," he apologized.

"No, Yuuno-kun," Shiro replied, his voice in the serious tone that Nanoha knew that he reserved for serious occasions. "You're doing the best you can. If anything, I'm upset with myself for not noticing either."

Feeling something warm briefly brush against her cheek, Nanoha opened her eyes. Finding herself staring into Naruto's sapphire orbs, the young magical girl quickly realized that what she'd felt had been her friend's hand.

"Nanoha-chan?" he asked, seeing her stir. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Naruto-kun," Nanoha softly answered.

"Nanoha-chan, you idiot!" Naruto cried, mirroring Nanoha's words to him after he woke up in the hospital. "Don't do that again! If anything happened to you, I'd..."

Naruto's speech was cut off by Nanoha squeezing his hand to draw his attention and starting to speak herself. "Now you know how I felt that day," she gently told him. "We're friends, aren't we? When you smile, I'm happy. When you cry, I'm sad. When you're hurt, I worry. To share feelings with those you care for is only natural... to care for those you are close to is part of what it means to be human... and to be close to your friends is to be a good friend."

While Naruto's eyes were no less dry at the end of her quiet speech, he seemed far less upset.

"Yes," Shiro stated, interrupting the moment. "That's certainly the case... but, Nanoha, I think we need to talk about some other things, like overworking yourself to the point where you pass out and hiding it from your family."

Nanoha gulped.

-----------

In retrospect, Nanoha reflected as she lay in bed the next morning, she'd gotten off lightly. The lecture had been embarrassing, sure, and her family had certainly embarrassed her enough, but other than making her take it easy for the day and insisting she cut back on searching for the Jewel Seeds, her family hadn't done much. Since they'd already decided on that, it amounted to getting off with a warning.

Her actual "punishment" had been being confined to the house for the day with an understanding that she'd spend most of her time resting. She'd already planned to spend the day with Naruto, so that wasn't exactly a hardship.

Nanoha knew that it was because her parents understood the reasons why she'd pushed herself. What really chilled her, however, was one of the points that her father had insisted on making: what if one of the Jewel Seeds had activated while she was in that sort of condition?

She'd been hoping to prevent the Seeds from injuring anyone else by finding them as quickly as possible, but...

Nanoha rolled onto her back and held out the red jewel pendant that had become her constant companion over the last week.

"Confirmation," Raising Heart intoned, projecting the images of the five Jewel Seeds Nanoha had managed to collect so far into a circle around it. Nanoha spent a while just staring at the projections as they spent a while dancing around Raising Heart.

Sighing, Nanoha released Raising Heart. The images of the Jewel Seeds soon vanished, leaving behind a single, troubled young girl and her Intelligent Device.

Despite her uncertainties and her guilt over troubling her family, however, there was one thing that Nanoha was absolutely, utterly certain of.

Nanoha would do her best to make Naruto's welcome home celebration go off without a hitch.

-----------

"So," Naruto asked, enjoying the feel of lying in his own bed after so long in the hospital, "what was that about..." Naruto paused. "Umm... 'physio'..."

"Physiological and psychological adaptation to an unfamiliar series of spell matrices?" Yuuno replied from the pillow next to the young boy. "We were talking about why it's tiring to use magic you're not used to."

Naruto blinked. "So you have to get used to new spells?"

Yuuno nodded. "Because Nanoha's not really used to using magic yet, it's much more tiring for her that it would be otherwise. I've never taught someone before, so I didn't really know how much it'd wear her out..."

"And Nanoha-chan didn't let you know how tired she was."

Yuuno lowered his head, resting it on his forepaws. "If only I'd noticed..."

Naruto sighed. "She seemed so... lively. I guess she was just faking it for our sakes, but..."

"Yeah..."

There was a moment of companionable silence before Naruto spoke up again. "Hey, Yuuno-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Magic is pretty dangerous, isn't it?"

Yuuno lifted his head and turned to his sometimes-student. "Why do you say that?"

"All of this talk about damaging your body and wearing yourself out and such..."

"That's not just magic, Naruto-kun," Yuuno replied. "Pushing yourself too hard is dangerous no matter what you're doing. There are a lot of things that are far more dangerous than magic... like traveling between dimensions unshielded or using kidou..."

Naruto blinked. "Kidou?" he asked. "What's that?"

Yuuno's voice suddenly became deadly serious. "Kidou are... like magical spells, but someone who uses kidou is using their spiritual energy in its pure form instead of gathering iryoku and forming magical energy... but because of the damage that causes, it's really dangerous... it's said that someone who uses kidou is using up their life with every attack."

"But Kyouya-niisan is teaching me to use my spiritual energy!"

"Yes, but you're not focusing it like you do magic or projecting it outside your body. Any energy you use in a kidou is effectively lost to you... you regain it eventually, but the strain that loss causes on your body is immense." Yuuno sighed, his voice becoming tinged with an undertone of sadness. "Magic's almost always easier and more effective, so kidou is a forgotten art to most."

Naruto briefly wondered how Yuuno knew about it if that was the case, but decided that it wasn't worth asking. He got the feeling that there was a story involved, and it probably wasn't a happy one given Yuuno's tone.

"I understand," he said, nodding slightly. "So why would anyone use kidou?"

Yuuno seemed quite pensive as he answered. "Because they felt that the price was worth it."

Naruto's initial response died on his tongue as he realized that Yuuno was speaking from experience. "Oh."

-----------

Takamachi Shiro smiled as he watched his soccer team, the Midoriya JFC, eating his wife's cooking. Coaching them and guiding them to success was normally one of his greatest pleasures in life and, even if he'd rather be home, watching over his family, at the moment, his team had earned this little celebration. The Sakuradai JFC were ranked number two in their soccer league, and Shiro's players had managed to completely shut them out, winning 2-0.

Although he didn't let it show on his face, Shiro inwardly sighed. What had Nanoha been _thinking_, pushing herself like that?

The fact that Shiro knew the answer didn't help. He was genuinely proud of her for wanting to keep anyone else from being hurt, but her recklessness...

"Thank you for the food," the team chorused in unison after everyone had finished.

"Everyone, you did really well today," Shiro told them. "Let's do our best in practice next week and win the next match like we won this one!"

"Yes!" his team chorused.

"Well then, dismissed! Be careful on the way home."

"Thank you very much!"

As the team broke up and the members headed home, the team's goalkeeper took a small, blue, jewel-like stone from his bag and put it in his pocket. Having already headed back into the Midoriya, Shiro didn't notice the action or the Jewel Seed.

It would have prevented quite a bit of trouble if he had.

-----------

Two young men exited Uminari's train station, chatting away as they walked to a nearby bus stop. The older, a dark-haired man with a serious demeanor, adjusted his glasses as he pointedly ignored the temptation to pull out the gun he had concealed in his trenchcoat and shoot his companion.

"Ryo," he exasperatedly asked, "could you be serious for once? This isn't a joking matter!"

"But, Makimura," the man's companion, a rather handsome man who wore an unbuttoned white shirt over a red undershirt and a pair of jeans, insisted, "it's not like you to worry about a bunch of people who were driven off by a eight-year-old... oh!"

Ryo's bearing underwent a sudden change as he noticed a brown-haired girl in a skintight sweatsuit jog by. "Thirty-two C," he commented, shamelessly leering at her.

Makimura pinched the bridge of his nose, recognizing the girl. "She was rather attractive, wasn't she?"

"Oh, yes," Ryo agreed, goofily nodding his head. "That was one _mokkori_ babe..."

"I'm fairly sure that her husband would agree."

"What? Husband?"

"Yes," Makimura Hideyuki cheerfully confirmed. "He's the head of the Uminari Vegetarian's Association and a noted pacifist."

Ryo stared at his friend and business partner.

"Did I mention that she has a pilot's license?"

Saeba Ryo groaned. "Come on, Makimura... don't ruin all of a man's dreams," he whined. "How do you know that, anyway?" he asked after a moment.

"Well, I," Makimura began before catching a sudden flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. "Wasn't that..."

"Yeah," Ryo confirmed, his demeanor suddenly serious.

There were no further words exchanged between the two men as they approached the boy who they'd seen handling a Jewel Seed.

-----------

Takamachi Nanoha collapsed into her bed, utterly exhausted. "Well, then," she told her mother as she nuzzled her pillow, "until dinnertime, good night."

Naruto's welcome back party had went pretty well, all things considered, even if Nanoha had needed to spend quite a bit of energy to seem her usual self. She was pretty sure that no one had noticed, but.... Utterly drained, Nanoha fell asleep before she could finish that thought.

Momoko stepped out of her youngest daughter's room and gently closed the door. "She's asleep," the Takamachi matriarch told her youngest child.

"I see," Naruto quietly replied, not wanting to wake his friend. "Nanoha-chan was really exhausted the whole time, wasn't she?"

"It seems so," Momoko agreed.

"But she seemed so cheerful earlier..." Naruto sighed and leaned against the back of his much-hated wheelchair. "She was faking again."

"She didn't want anything to take away from your return home," Momoko observed. "Such things are supposed to be happy occasions."

Naruto grimaced and clenched his fists. "If only I was stronger..."

Momoko's smile slipped for a moment before she regained her usual composure. "It is only natural to want to be able protect your friends, Naruto-kun, but be careful not to forget why you want that strength."

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean?"

"There are many reasons to want to become strong," Momoko replied, "but wanting to protect your friends is among the best of them. As long as you hold onto that desire and remember the reason why your power exists, you will not be led astray."

"The reason why my power exists?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Momoko agreed.

Naruto's eyes widened for a moment. "Iryoku," he muttered under his breath before suddenly moving to run to his room.

Unfortunately for him, however, his wheelchair chose that moment to remind him that yes, he was still in it and that yes, his legs were still in casts. The young boy promptly tripped and fell, landing on his face.

"Oh dear," Momoko muttered, a sweatdrop rolling down her face.

-----------

About a minute after his unfortunate fall, Naruto finally made it to his room. Quickly making a beeline for Yuuno, the young would-be mage promptly asked him a question.

"Yuuno-sensei," Naruto attentively inquired, "just what is that iryoku stuff you mentioned?"

Uncurling himself, Yuuno met his sometimes-student's eager gaze. "Iryoku is the energy of nature, the power of the world around us," Yuuno explained. "There's more, but... just what do you want to know about it?"

"Well," Naruto explained, "I was just talking to Mom and she mentioned something about the reasons for my power... I was thinking that my incantation..."

Yuuno nodded. "I see. Some people's incantations are like that. They're often something personal... some think that they have something to do with your nature, the type of power you use, or so on. Many mages who specialize in ice magic have incantations that have something to do with cold, peace, or rest, for example... but other times it can be a description of yourself or a reminder of something."

"So Nanoha-chan's incantation..."

"Is absolutely nothing like that!" Yuuno cheerfully completed.

"Right...," Naruto answered as a sweatdrop fell down his face. "So anyway, magic is a mix of iryoku and spiritual energy..."

"Yes. Since iryoku is all around you, magic is sometimes called the power of our soul's connections with the world."

"Connections," Naruto muttered, thinking for a moment as he turned inward. After a moment of that, his eyes lit up.

Naruto's bright-eyed expression only lasted a moment, however, as he suddenly felt the distinctive sensation of a Jewel Seed activating.

-----------

Makimura Hideyuki placed a hand on his forehead and sighed. Finding one of the devices that the police had been searching for had been unexpected, but hardly a problem. That honor went to Ryo coming across an attractive female police officer when he was trying to turn it in.

Only Ryo, Makimura thought, would use an experimental weapon designed to cause mass hallucinations to try to get into a woman's pants.

The real problem, however, started when Ryo tried to cop a feel as he pressed the device into the officer's hand and made yet another request for "hot _mokkori_ action". Before she could so much as slap him, the device had surrounded them with a white light. Makimura had only a moment to realize that his partner had somehow activated the device before he was staring at the base of a giant, ten-story...

Makimura's mind promptly shied away from what he was seeing. It was just a hallucination, after all. The best thing he could do was to ignore it and hope the effect passed. Since he was obviously effected by the device, he couldn't trust his senses.

Ignoring the panicking crowd, Makimura moved to sit down on a nearby bench. Walking past a man who was staring and muttering something about "10SBRC certification", whatever that was, Makimura calmly took a seat as the... thing... raised one of its two spherical "feet" and moved it forward as if to walk.

When the hallucination took its first step forward, however, Makimura's calm was shattered. The fleshy orb crashed into the pavement with enough force to shake the ground... and Makimura's bench.

"I felt that," he thought in stunned disbelief, knowing enough about hallucinations to understand what that meant.

In that moment of sudden epiphany, Makimura Hideyuki nearly froze out of shock. His reflexes narrowly prevented that, however, and he moved to protect the panicking civilians as they cleared out of the area. Drawing his gun in a single, smooth motion, the former police officer fired a shot at the creature's long shaft before the creature could take another step.

Three things quickly became readily apparent in the seconds that followed. The first, that Makimura's actions probably had been ill-advised, was first shown by the fact that the bullet bounced off of the cylindrical body. The second, that rampaging Jewel Seed incarnation had noticed the ineffective attack, was shown the creature swinging its bulbous head into a nearby building, causing considerable damage to its structure, before it suddenly turned and charged down the street.

The third, that the creature was not really a creature, per se, was revealed by a pained shout coming from between the creature's "legs".

"That was Ryo's voice," Makimura incredulously thought as he heard the yell.

A few moments later a piece of pavement struck him on the head and rendered him blissfully unconscious.

-----------

"Yuuno-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, pushing back on his wheelchair.

"Yeah," the ferret-changeling replied. "For a Jewel Seed to activate right now... and so strongly..."

"It felt different from usual," Naruto observed.

Yuuno nodded. "If a human puts their strongest wishes and desires into a Jewel Seed, it releases its strongest power. From the feeling this time, that's what happened."

Naruto paled. "And with Nanoha-chan as-"

The blond-haired boy's statement was interrupted by the sound of his closest friend running past his room. "Sorry, Mom, Dad!" Nanoha shouted, heading down the stairs. "It's important!"

"Nanoha-chan!" Naruto shouted, wheeling towards the door in panic. "Wait!"

It was, however, too late. By the time Naruto managed to leave his room, Nanoha had already left the house.

"Yuuno-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, addressing the ferret that had jumped onto his shoulder in the panic.

"Yes!" Yuuno replied. Hopping off and jumping through an open window, the Midchildan ferret-changeling took after his wayward student in the arts of magic, using his own abilities to speed his movement as he bounced from building to building in his haste.

Naruto wheeled himself to follow his friends as quickly as he could. Approaching the staircase to the ground level of the house, he focused inward, remembering what little Yuuno had told him about the theory behind magical flight. "Lunas, solis," he incanted. "O ephemeral feathers of eternal fire, o threads of vanishing eternity! Heed my call and become my wings!"

Levitating slightly under the power of his magic, Naruto began to lower himself towards the door which his friend had failed to close in her haste to intercept the Jewel Seed.

"Naruto-kun!"

"Sorry, Mom, Dad! It's important!" Naruto shouted, unconsciously echoing his friend's earlier departure as he lowered his wheelchair to the ground and altered his spell to help propel him towards his destination.

-----------

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nanoha was the first of the three to catch sight of the activated Jewel Seed. Seeing it aim its tip towards a news helicopter and let loose with a burst of some sort of white goop, however, Nanoha paused. Fortunately, the helicopter dodged. The sticky projectile missed and struck a nearby building, promptly starting to eat through its façade like acid through Styrofoam.

"Eeeeh?!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide as she stared at the monster that was attacking her home.

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Elsewhere, Alisa Bannings picked up her cellular phone and triggered the speed dial. "Suzuka?" she asked as her friend picked up. "Are you watching the news?"

As she completed the safety checks on the Mishima Industries vectored jetlift aircraft commonly known as "Poison One", Tsukimura Suzuka wondered just how much trouble she'd be in for taking it out before she finished her pilot training. Then again, judging by the situation...

At least Farin would make a good copilot and gunner. She might be somewhat clumsy as a maid, but her combat programming was first-rate.

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A.N.: And herein the reason for me introducing City Hunter is revealed...

Anyway, please review.


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